Dutch superstar Diede De Groot has cemented herself among the legends of wheelchair tennis with her latest Australian Open singles victory.
De Groot beat long-time rival Yui Kamiji 7-5 6-4 in a hard-fought 2024 women’s wheelchair singles final at Kia Arena, earning her fourth straight AO singles title.
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It is the 27-year-old’s 13th consecutive Grand Slam singles title, surpassing the record of 12 set by Japanese icon Shingo Kunieda between 2007 and 2011.
It is also her 21st Grand Slam singles title overall, equalling legendary countrywoman Esther Vergeer for the most of all time among women. Vergeer’s 21st and final major title came almost 14 years ago, at Roland-Garros in 2012.
De Groot’s latest triumph is her 135th consecutive match victory – an unbeaten run dating back to the 2021 Melbourne Wheelchair Open final, which she lost to Kamiji.
“The funny thing, if my life was without media, I would not be aware,” De Groot said of her records.
“But because there's so much media, because there's social media, because there are so many other people looking at those records, it's impossible to not know.
“They're all amazing. I think, like, it shows that I'm doing so well. So, looking back at all of the records, I'm proud of myself, and it shows me, looking back I think it shows me that I'm doing better than I maybe even hoped I would ever do.
“I'm very proud of that, but to be able to focus on tennis, I need to sort of set it aside.”
De Groot’s unbeaten run was seriously threatened at last week’s Melbourne Open final, where Kamiji led 5-3 in the third set before De Groot escaped.
It was similarly tense on Saturday at Kia Arena, with De Groot unable to shake her gritty Japanese opponent, herself an eight-time Grand Slam singles champion.
But Kamiji, the No.2 seed seeking her first major singles title since Roland-Garros in 2020, was always playing from behind.
She recovered from a 2-5 first-set deficit playing bold tennis, and erased five set points.
De Groot kept creating opportunities with her heavier, steadier game, and eventually she converted her sixth by forcing an error.
In the second set, De Groot kept breaking serve and appearing to have the ascendancy, only for Kamiji to continually break back.
There were six breaks of serve in the first eight games as the game score progressed to 4-4, but it was De Groot’s resounding break in the following game that helped determine the outcome.
Buoyed by her performance and earning an opportunity to serve for the match, she hit out more boldly in the final game and closed out victory in one hour, 36 minutes.
“The last couple of weeks have not been going just all my way with a little injury and a cold, a match point down in the preparation tournament,” said De Groot, who admitted as she accepted the trophy she felt ‘speechless’.
“It hasn't all been just going fine. I had to work for it very hard this week.
“I think that's what makes this really special.”