Diede de Groot has staged a remarkable comeback over Yui Kamiji from a set and a break down to claim her third straight Australian Open wheelchair singles title on Saturday.
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In the 15th Grand Slam final between the pair, the top seed overcame a fast-starting Kamiji to land her 13th win, in an hour and 48 minutes, 0-6 6-2 6-2.
“I don't even really know how I managed to turn that around,” de Groot said. “The first set… it went all to Yui. I didn't even have a chance to get a game.
“I was talking to my coach a little bit before this, and I tried to stay as calm as I could, but I think my body was showing that I wasn't calm.
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“Then I managed to get into the rallies a little bit more, which helped me to get just a little bit more time to get into my game.”
In a dominant serving display, Kamiji stormed through the opening set in just 24 minutes, having landed 75 per cent of first serves to de Groot’s 37 per cent.
The match was fast slipping from de Groot’s grasp when she was broken immediately in the second set.
Desperate to stem the flow, the top seed needed to get her name on the board and finally did so with the break back for 1-all.
It was the pressure release she needed as she swept six of seven games, breaking the two-time Australian Open champion on her fourth set point to level the match.
A string of early breaks made momentum difficult to grab in the deciding set until de Groot ended a four-minute game to hold for 3-2.
She never looked back and reeled off the final three games for her 17th major singles title.
It marked Kamiji’s fourth Australian Open final defeat to her Dutch rival.
“You were such a great player today,” Kamiji said. “We've played many times, many three sets... It's not the end I wanted but I'm still happy with my performance today.
It is the Dutchwoman’s fifth Australian Open singles crown and her ninth straight major, only two shy of compatriot Esther Vergeer’s streak and three short of Shingo Kunieda’s record run from 2007 to 2011.
But the world No.1 will not allow her unbeaten stretch to distract her from future success.
“I really try to stay away from those numbers, because they can frighten you,” she said.
“I think also when you only look at the numbers, you're going to be disappointed when it doesn't happen, even though it's very realistic to sometimes lose.
“It's not normal to only win matches. So I always try to just go into it and try and feel well and feel the game. I don't try and go into it and think I can't lose this one.”