Diede De Groot, of the Netherlands, reacts after defeating Yui Kamiji, of Japan, in the wheelchair women's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Diede de Groot won her 12th straight Grand Slam wheelchair singles title Sunday, beating Yui Kamiji 6-2, 6-2 in the U.S. Open women's final in New York.
The Dutch star completed her third straight calendar-year Grand Slam, including a Golden Slam in 2021, when she also won the Paralympic gold medal. De Groot has won six straight U.S. Open titles and 20 major singles titles overall — not that she keeps count.
“I’d like to really not worry about it too much, because then you’re going to start to think about, ‘Oh, I want to reach this or I want to reach that,’” she said. “I really just want to focus on my game, and that’s what I did today. So that’s what I’m really proud of. But I think just being this consistent is what I’m really proud of. Being able to do it multiple times in the year.”
De Groot hasn't lost a Grand Slam singles match since falling in the French Open semifinals in 2020.
Alfie Hewett, the No. 2 seed, beat Gordon Reid 6-4, 6-3 in a matchup of British players to win his fourth U.S. Open men's title.
In a meticulously choreographed ceremony on Tuesday, the flame for this summer’s Paris Olympics will be lit at the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games in southern Greece.