THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 9, 2022

Diede De Groot

Press Conference

D. de GROOT/U. Kamiji

6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Diede, another title, another Wimbledon title. How are you feeling?

DIEDE de GROOT: Very good. Very good. It was a little bit of a struggle. I'm just very happy to be able to complete it, I guess.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. 55-match winning streak currently. That is a great sporting achievement, isn't it? How do you even begin to go on a run like that?

DIEDE de GROOT: I think you don't really begin to say, I'm not going to lose anymore. I do think it sort of grows and it grows.

At the moment I'm not even thinking about it anymore. I know there's going to be a day where it happens. I'm still a human being and tennis is a really strange sport sometimes. I'm not really busy with keeping such a long streak intact.

It's very nice, but it's not necessarily a goal of mine.

Q. A bit of emotion from you at the end on court in your interview when you talked about your family.

DIEDE de GROOT: Yeah, it's very special. We had some circumstances at home which made it very difficult actually to be out here this week and focus on my matches. It was very special for them to be here and to witness this with me, where maybe they would have loved to stay at home as well.

Yeah, for me goes the same. I had to be here, focus on my matches, and that's what I did. At the end it's sometimes a little bit difficult.

Q. Let's talk about Yui. Both sets you were quite far ahead, got yourself a bit of breathing distance. She kept coming back at you, didn't she?

DIEDE de GROOT: Yeah, like I said, it was a pretty tough match. I think I played really well yesterday. I was sort of leaning on that, like, Oh, I'm playing so well, I'm going to play well today. But that didn't really happen. Sometimes you can get a little bit down and thinking about why am I not playing as good as I was yesterday.

I had to sort of get back into the level that I was having today and sort of be satisfied with that and play with what I had.

But Yui does so well. Every time I think I have found the right way, she comes up with an answer. That's her strength.

Q. A fourth Wimbledon title. Can you talk about competing on grass, what's special about that?

DIEDE de GROOT: Competing on grass for us is really tough. I think where on hard court we push the chair and we reach the end of the court. For grass it's maybe two meters, maybe not even. It's a constant effort that you have to put in to keep, keep pushing. That makes it physically very tough.

We also have to change our games. Actually this year is the first year we all had a preparation tournament, whereas previous years we didn't even have a preparation tournament. It was literally this one week a year that we played on grass.

We're very happy that it's a little bit moving right now. We had a little bit of a grass season. But it doesn't make it easier.

Q. Does that preparation tournament point to some progress in wheelchair tennis?

DIEDE de GROOT: Definitely. It was combined with the ATP and WTA in Eastbourne. Very happy to be allowed into that tournament. I think they also noticed how easy it actually is to combine it with the wheelchair tennis and with their matches they had going on.

We didn't disturb anything. We were there. We were very happy to be there. I think that really helped the tournament to see, You know what, this could be working. I think they're happy to do something more next year.

Q. Despite the challenges of grass, how special is it to compete at Wimbledon?

DIEDE de GROOT: Very special. I think this will be one of the most special tournaments always. The authenticity - you know what I mean - like the old style but also they're changing it up a little bit so there's new things as well.

I think the way that they're sort of trying to keep the same but improving, still keeping it up to date is really special. I think the grass is something calming, and I like the way that it does.

Q. Your countrywoman Esther Vergeer had such a great history in wheelchair tennis as well. Do you feel any motivation to match her achievements?

DIEDE de GROOT: Not really. I mean, I'm getting pretty close. I know this. But her achievements really stand on itself. I think her match streak was actually almost 500 matches, so I don't think anyone will ever top that. For 10 years she wasn't beaten. Those are records that no one's going to beat.

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.

Q. What are your motivations now? Are you motivated to complete the Grand Slam?

DIEDE de GROOT: Well, mostly motivated to be at US Open and keep improving. This match, I'm going to try and do better.

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 US Open. It's going to be a little bit of a different way going there.

But I'm just really happy to have another Grand Slam ahead of me.