DIEDE DE GROOT Wins Wimbledon wheelchair major
DIEDE DE GROOT Wins Wimbledon wheelchair major. Dutchwoman Diede de Groot moved closer to Esther Vergeer’s record with her Wimbledon win.
At Wimbledon, women’s wheelchair tennis witnessed the victory of Diede de Groot. Dieda is now in a winning mode. She is showing priceless performance in all Grand Slam tournaments noted in the calendar. With this victory, Diede de Groot moved closer to the record of Esther Vergeer’s in women’s wheelchair tennis.
De Groot bagged her 7th straight major singles title. It was fourth overall at Wimbledon for her. Last Saturday, she defeated Yui Kamiji of Japan 6-4, 6-2 on No. 3 Court.
For this Dutchwoman, it’s the 15th singles title from the four biggest tournaments in tennis. Now, her record is second only to 21 years Vergeer.
She said, “I’m getting pretty close. I know this. But her achievements really stand on itself.” “For 10 years, she wasn’t beaten. Those are records that no one’s going to beat.”
De Groot’s efforts are on point to takeover Vergeer’s record.
In 2017 she won bagged her first Wimbledon singles title. It happened just in the second appearance at a major tournament. Out of 21 tournaments, she won 15 titles.
It’s not Vergeer’s legacy that motivates her to play better.
Groot said, “I think if I sort of try and challenge that, I might even end up sad at the end of my career. Even though I had such a big and very impressive career, I’ll be sad because I didn’t beat her record,”. “So, I’m definitely not really looking at how she was. I think we all have to honor what she did and what she meant to the whole wheelchair tennis community.”
De Groot is gearing up for the second straight calendar-year Grand Slam. Yes, it’s at the U.S. Open. She is winning this tournament for the last four years.
However, she doesn’t have enough competitive preparation.
She said, “Unfortunately, due to some circumstances, we don’t have any tournaments in between.” “We don’t have any preparation tournaments; we don’t have anything before U.S. Open. It’s going to be a little bit of a different way going there.”
De Groot reached the doubles final. We will see her playing with teammate Aniek Van Koot. Their opponent for this title will be Kamiji and Dana Mathewson. This match is going to be her 15th in the women’s doubles.
Playing matches with perfection on the green lawns of All England Club, isn’t that easy. It turns a level harder for wheelchair athletes on this ground.
Groot mentioned, “Competing on grass for us is really tough.” “I think where on the hard court we push the chair, and we reach the end of the court, for grass, it’s maybe two meters (yards), maybe not even. It’s a constant effort that you have to put in to keep, keep pushing. That makes it physically very tough.”