Sasson seeks debut double, Kamiji & Montjane ride Roland Garros vibes
Guy Sasson is having a dream debut at Roland Garros so far this year. The 44-year-old Israeli is on for the quad singles and doubles double in his first appearance on the clay in Paris.
Playing just his third Grand Slam event, Sasson has reached his 2nd consecutive major singles final, having defeated Heath Davidson 6-0 6-2 in the 1st round, before upsetting defending champion and world No. 1 Niels Vink 6-2 6-3 in the semifinal on Thursday.
“Participating in a Grand Slam is a dream come true,” Sasson explained, who made his Grand Slam debut at the US Open last year. “I’ve worked very hard in the last year to be able to perform and compete here at Roland Garros. I like the clay, especially here at Roland Garros, it’s a bit different. I find it’s great for my game.”
Sasson faces world No. 2 Sam Schroder, the same man who beat him 6-3 6-3 in the Australian Open final. Schroder has defeated Sasson four of the five times they have played, but Sasson’s one victory did come on clay, in France, in the quarter-finals of last year’s French Riviera Open.
“I definitely have a game plan,” Sasson warned. “We had a really tough game in Australia, and we met again at the Japan Open, and he beat me there too, both on hard courts. This time it’s on clay, and the ball bounces differently, so it’s a different story. He’s a great player, and of course he is the favourite, but I think I know what to do.”
Sasson is also into the doubles final alongside new partner and 15-time Grand Slam doubles champion Andy Lapthorne, where they take on Schroder and Vink.
“Honestly I was surprised that Andy wanted me as a partner,” Sasson admitted. “But he has so much experience, he’s won so many Grand Slams. I think we can do it tomorrow.”
Elsewhere, women’s doubles No. 1 seeds and defending champions Yui Kamiji and Kgothatso Montjane kept their title defence up by reaching the final after defeating Dana Matthewson and Manami Tanka 6-3 6-2 in the last four.
They will face No. 2 seeds Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot in a repeat of the 2022 final, where Kamiji and Montjane lost in tight fashion, 10-8 in a match tiebreak. But the friends and teammates are not phased by any potential demons.
“It’s all vibes, honestly, we’re one of those pairs that never even discusses tactics,” Montjane revealed about their approach. “We play different opponents on different surfaces, we go into the match and in the first couple of games we see what our opponents are doing. Then, we adjust, because we communicate so well.”
“We can always fix our game during the match, we know each other,” Kamiji added. The Japanese is bidding to win her 21st Grand Slam doubles title on Saturday. Two of those have come partnering Montjane, at Roland Garros and the US Open last year.
In the men’s doubles, defending champions Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid survived a scare to defeat Gustavo Fernandez and Stephane Houdet 3-6 6-2 [10-8]. They will face Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in Saturday’s final, after the Japanese duo defeated home team Frederic Cattaneo and Guilhem Laget 6-1 6-1.
Also on Friday, the inaugural Roland Garros junior wheelchair event came to a close, with singles No. 1 seeds Maximilian Taucher and Ksenia Chasteau taking home the title in the boys’ and girls’ singles respectively. Austria’s Taucher defeated No. 2 seed Ivar van Rijt from the Netherlands 2-6 6-4 7-6(8), while Chasteau ousted American Maylee Phelps 6-2 6-3 in a repeat of their 2023 US Open final to win her 2nd Grand Slam title and first on home soil.
Both Taucher and Chasteau did the singles and doubles double. Taucher partnered Brit Ruben Harris to defeat Australia’s Yassin Hill and van Rijt 7-5 6-4, before Chasteau and Phelps defeated Brazilian Vitoria Miranda and Japan’s Yuma Takamuro 3-6 6-0 [18-16] after an epic tiebreak.