Sasson surges to new heights with first Grand Slam title
Guy Sasson has capped his debut appearance at Roland Garros with his first Grand Slam title, defeating Dutchman Sam Schroder 6-2 3-6 7-6(7) in an epic that lasted nearly three hours and saw Sasson save multiple match points on Court 13 on Saturday.
“Well, it's a huge win, it was really a thriller. I'm so happy that at the end of the day it came my way. It cannot be any sweeter than that,” the 44-year-old said upon winning the trophy.
The win saw Sasson overturn the result he suffered against Schroder in his first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open earlier this year, where he lost 6-3 6-3. He has now become the third Israeli man ever to win a Grand Slam title in any discipline, after Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram won the 2008 Australian Open men’s doubles title, and Ram won two mixed doubles Grand Slam titles.
For Schroder, it is once again so close yet so far. He has now lost four consecutive Roland Garros singles finals to three different players – Dylan Alcott in 2021, Niels Vink in 2022 and 2023, and Sasson this year.
The final set match tiebreak provided plenty of tension, drama, and even a moment of levity as Sasson celebrated too early. Forgetting that the match tiebreak was played to 10 points, Sasson believed he had captured the title up 7-5 in the breaker, and reacted as such.
“Yeah it was a huge embarrassment,” Sasson said chuckling. “But I think it helped me, because I think so much air came out at 7-5. My coach and I laughed about it, and I think a lot of stress came out. I don't want to think what would have happened if I had lost the match from there.”
Sasson’s attention now turns to another new experience in his near future, a debut on the grass at Wimbledon, before turning back to Paris for his debut at the Paralympics.
“When my team and I are looking at this process of where we want to be or we want to get to, we're looking at the end of the Paralympics,” Sasson added. “After the Paralympics, we will rest.”
At least Schroder does come away from Roland Garros with a different title, having won the quad doubles final alongside Vink, defeating Sasson and his partner Andy Lapthorne 7-6(9) 6-1. Schroder has now won 8 Grand Slam doubles titles, and Vink 7, all with Schroder. It is their second triumph as a team at Roland Garros, having won on the clay in 2022.