First wheelchair tennis player to complete a “Career Grand Slam” in singles

Diede de Groot (Netherlands) won the wheelchair singles title at the French Open in Paris on 8 June 2019 to become the first-ever wheelchair tennis player to claim the singles crown at all four Grand Slam tournaments. Previously, de Groot had won Wimbledon in 2017–18, the Australian Open in 2018–19 and the US Open in 2018. Remarkably, by winning the singles tournament at the 2021 and 2022 editions of the French Open, the dominant de Groot achieved a second and third “Career Grand Slam”.

De Groot was the first wheelchair player to complete a non-calendar year Grand Slam when she held all four major titles simultaneously (Wimbledon 2018, US Open 2018, Australian Open 2019, French Open 2019). In 2021, she completed a “(Career) Golden Slam” by winning all four majors and Paralympic gold (in the same year) and a “(Career) Super Slam” by winning all four majors, Paralympic gold and the year-end Masters event (in the same year).

As of 10 July 2022, de Groot had amassed 15 Grand Slam singles titles – four at the Australian Open (2018–19 and 2021–22), three at the French Open (2019 and 2021–22), four at Wimbledon (2017–18 and 2021–22) and four at the US Open (2018–21) – a Paralympic gold medal from Tokyo 2021 (she defeated Japan’s Yui Kamiji 6–3, 7–6 in the final) and four Masters triumphs (2017–19 and 2021). Additionally, the 25-year-old Dutchwoman had claimed 14 Grand Slam doubles titles by the same date, including five in a row (2018–22) at the French Open.

Her run of eight Grand Slam singles tournament wins – between the 2020 US Open and Wimbledon 2022 – has seen her go on an unbeaten 24-match winning streak; throw in five matches at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, and the Wheelchair Tennis Masters at Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida, also in 2021, and de Groot hasn’t lost a top-level singles match since bowing out of the 2020 French Open in the semi-finals to Japan’s Momoko Ohtani.