US OPEN

September 11, 2022

Diede De Groot

Press Conference

D. de GROOT/Y. Kamiji

3-6, 6-1, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. If you could tell us a little bit what it was like to win a Grand Slam.

DIEDE de GROOT: To win a Grand Slam is always very special. I think it's one of the tournaments that you train hardest for in the year. Winning one will never get old (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You said at the beginning of the tournament that you felt the vibes were different last year coming into the US Open than they were this year. At the end of the tournament, what are your reflections of this four in a row versus last year's four in a row?

DIEDE de GROOT: I think in terms of how I played in the final, it was actually almost the same, where last year I don't think I played three sets, but I was very tight. Now, as well, somehow I couldn't get my serve in. Like, I've been hitting aces, I had very high percentages throughout the whole tournament. In the final it's just gone.

I think that sort of shows how even after playing so many finals you still get nervous. But, yeah, I think I was very relaxed throughout the whole tournament, where I wasn't last year, except for the final. But I got through it.

Q. It's the first time you lost a set in a Grand Slam match I think since 2021. When you face a deficit like that, what goes through your head? How did you manage to come back today?

DIEDE de GROOT: Preparing for the match, you go through all of the preparations that you have. You have, like, your warmup, your prematch warmup, you have your thing in the locker room where you prepare your tennis bag. You have so many steps that you go through.

Somehow I was already prepared for a long match today. I remember, like, I make two bottles always with a certain sports drink. I made three today, I don't know why I did, but I needed all three of them.

I don't know if somehow my feeling was like I know Yui is going to bring it to me today. And she really did. I don't know. I was just so happy to, I don't know, get like an early service hold in the second set, which is why I think I could sort of relax a little bit. So that was nice.

Q. Can you talk about the first set. Yui was really aggressive to you.

DIEDE de GROOT: Yeah, I know Yui will always try to find a way to beat me. I know each match I'm going to expect a different Yui on the other side of the net.

For me, I think I was playing the right game, but it was just out and it was just long and it was just not on point. So even though I was playing the right things, I was doing the right things, I couldn't get the ball in.

But then at the end of the first set, I already felt like, Okay, I'm relaxing a little bit more now, I'm easing up, or like I'm calming down a little bit. I think that helped me throughout the rest of the match.