Kamiji clinches fourth Roland Garros crown in all-Japanese final
Yui Kamiji claimed a fourth women’s singles title at Roland Garros in emphatic fashion, downing compatriot Momoko Ohtani 6-2 6-1 in the first all-Japanese wheelchair singles final in Grand Slam history.
Kamiji, who won the Australian Open title in January and arrived in Paris after reaching the US Open final, underscored her clay court prowess with a pitch-perfect display, overwhelming Ohtani on return to break six times en route to victory in 57 minutes.
“My first Grand Slam title was here, and I’ve won more titles here than anywhere else,” said Kamiji, who first triumphed at Roland Garros in 2014. “And I’m very happy to have my second Grand Slam title for this year. And I’m also very happy to have a final against someone from the same country.”
Playing in just her second Grand Slam event, Ohtani reached the final after a stunning straight-sets victory over world No.1 and defending champion Diede De Groot in the semi-finals. But she met her match in Kamiji, who made light of two tighter showdowns between the Japanese duo earlier this year.
“I was happy with my performance today,” she added, pointing to the positive impact of her training regime during lockdown.
“In Japan we couldn’t practice for two, three months, and when I came back to train we had more time to practice because we had no tournaments. I tried to do new things with my tennis, and also with my wheelchair. I watched videos of my games against other players, and it really worked.”
Kamiji dropped just one set – her first of the tournament – en route to the title, and has the chance to clinch the women’s doubles crown with Great Britain’s Jordanne Whiley after beating Marjolein Buis and Charlotte Famin 6-0 6-1. They will face two-time defending champions De Groot and Aniek Van Koot in Saturday’s final.
Hewett and Reid battle back to complete Career Slam together
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid overcame a resurgent Shingo Kunieda and Gustavo Fernandez to clinch the men’s doubles title at Roland Garros, sealing victory in a match tie-break 7-6(4) 1-6 [10-3] and completing their collection of Grand Slam titles won together.
The British duo have swept the three doubles Grand Slam titles on offer in 2020, adding their triumph in Paris to those at the Australian Open in January and last month’s US Open. But despite winning six previous Grand Slam triumphs in tandem since the partnership began at the majors in 2017, this was only their second Roland Garros final – and breaking the hex didn’t come easy.
Fernandez and Kunieda saw a 5-2, 40-0 first-set lead evaporate before losing the opener in a tie-break, which proved critical as the singles world No.1 and No.2 stormed to a 5-0 lead in the second set. There would be no comeback this time from the Brits, but they rediscovered their rhythm in the match tie-break to seal victory in one hour, 53 minutes.
“The initial sense was of relief after quite an up-and-down match, a lot of twists and turns, and quite emotionally draining as well,” admitted Reid, who now has 13 doubles Grand Slam titles to his name. “We really wanted it, and the way we’ve been playing this year, our form, we knew this was a great chance, a great opportunity to do that.”
While Reid has now won three doubles titles in Paris, Hewett, who faces Kunieda in Saturday’s men’s singles final, has now completed his own doubles career Grand Slam. Now he can focus on avenging last month’s US Open final defeat to clinch twin titles.
“It’s where it all really started for me in my slam career, back in 2017,” Hewett said of the prospect of winning a second Roland Garros singles title. “The last couple of years singles-wise haven’t really been too victorious, so it would be incredible.
“I’ve played some great tennis this week and to have back-to-back slam titles in doubles, back-to-back singles finals is something that I’m very proud of. This time I want to make sure I get the double as well.”
Reid revealed that it was the disappointment of their 2019 defeat in Paris that has spurred the duo to greater heights over the past 16 months – a run that has included four Grand Slam doubles wins and seven consecutive titles in 2020.
“Last year we got home so disappointed with the way we were playing, so we took a different approach,” Reid said. “We committed to spending more time together working on doubles, and I really think that showed at the end of last year and the whole of this year, how that’s turned our form around.
“It’s something to be proud of. Obviously, it being 2020, there have not been as many tournaments as there would be usually, but I still think it’s a great achievement.”
All eyes now turn to the one accolade missing from their doubles resumes – Paralympic gold.
“The Paralympics is a massive goal for us,” Reid added, but ruled out talk of targeting a golden slam in 2021. “I don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves just yet! Obviously we’re enjoying the success but I know what it’s like when you reach the top of the game – you’ve got a target on your back and everybody’s doing everything they can to take you off that top spot.”
Wagner and Schroeder save match point en route to quad doubles title
David Wagner is Roland Garros quad doubles champion for a second successive year, winning the 2020 title alongside Paris debutant Sam Schroder with a 4-6 7-5 [10-8] victory over Dylan Alcott and Andy Lapthorne.
In a reversal of the US Open final, the title was once again decided by the narrowest of margins after the pairs split the opening sets. The second in particular could have gone either way, with the British-Aussie duo twice leading by a break before Schroder and Wagner – who partnered Alcott to the title in 2019 – surged back from match point down at 5-3 to earn a match tie-break.
“I want to thank Roland-Garros for having the quad division represented for the second year in a row," said 46-year-old Wagner, who now has 25 Grand Slam titles to his name. "I look forward to coming back next year to try and play my best tennis again. We’ll do what we can to increase our draw size for the quad division, let’s keep growing the game."
Schroder, 25 years his partner's junior, adds the Roland Garros doubles title to his US Open singles win, also won on debut last month. “Thanks for a great match Andy and Dylan. Good luck tomorrow too. Thanks David for playing with me, I couldn’t have done it without you of course. Thank you to everyone watching and supporting from home."
“It’s a tough format,” Lapthorne said of the doubles scoring system at Roland Garros, which includes no-ad deuces. “If you don’t take your chances, you give opponents the chance to come back, and that’s what we did. We had a match point in the second set, maybe could have played that point differently, but it is what it is, and you can’t win them all.
“It was a really good match again. I think we gel well as four players and it’s good for the division.”
Partners turn rivals on Saturday as Lapthorne attempts to hand Alcott his first ever singles defeat at Roland Garros, the Australian having won both titles on offer when the quad wheelchair division was introduced in Paris last year – though the Briton considers Alcott the favourite.
“I’m just in one of those moments right now where everything is a struggle,” he admitted. “I was trying to move onto the ball more, trying to do what the coaches have asked me to do, and that’s what I’ll do tomorrow. Hopefully I can play a bit better and get myself in a position to win.
“I’m going to go out, give it a go and see where it takes me. I’ve got nothing to lose – I’m the underdog, so let’s see what I can do.”