De Groot battles back for 22nd Grand Slam, surpassing Vergeer tally
Diede de Groot may have been beaten for the first time in more than three years last month, but remains untouchable at Grand Slams after securing her 14th consecutive Grand Slam singles title by defeating first-time major singles finalist Zhu Zhenzhen 4-6 6-2 6-3 at Roland Garros on Saturday.
This 22nd Grand Slam singles title means de Groot surpasses compatriot and wheelchair tennis legend Esther Vergeer’s record of 21 wheelchair women’s singles major crowns. While incredibly impressive, the 27-year-old was quick to contextualise the milestone.
“I’m really proud to now have this record be mine,” she admitted. “But at the same time, I know the conditions when Esther played. She couldn’t play singles at Wimbledon, a lot of the Grand Slams weren’t even called Grand Slams yet. So it’s not really much of a comparison. For me, we are together at the top, not one better than the other.”
Looking at de Groot’s draw, the story of her run was that of facing the cohort of Chinese players. She first overcame Li Xiaohui, the woman who ended her 145-match winning streak, in the 1st round, before defeating Wang Ziying in the quarter-finals.
Finally, Zhu put up a good fight on Court Philippe-Chatrier in the final, being the only player to take a set of de Groot in the draw.
“She's mentally very tough, and I knew she was not going to be fazed about anything,” de Groot said of Zhu. “I really knew I had to expect the best of her. She did so well considering it's her first final. She can be really proud of herself.”
Having claimed a fourth successive Roland Garros singles crown, de Groot then partnered compatriot Aniek van Koot to complete the women’s wheelchair double, defeating Yui Kamiji and Kgothatso Montjane 6-7(6) 7-6(2) [10-4] to take her major doubles tally to 19 and her overall haul to 41.
Looking ahead, de Groot will look to claim a fourth consecutive Wimbledon title, before returning to Paris to put up her Paralympic gold defence in both the singles and doubles. Despite yet another successful Slam campaign, the world No. 1 believes she still has plenty to improve upon.
“I'm not actually sure today will give me a lot of confidence. It wasn't my best match, but just coming out here, already playing at Chatrier, which is going to be one of the main courts for us at the Paralympics, is very good, getting to know what it looks like. There were a lot of people watching us, and they were really engaged into the game, so that was really good to feel.”