ROLAND GARROS

June 10, 2023

Diede De Groot

Press Conference

D. de GROOT/Y. Kamiji

6-2, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Congratulations. You seem unstoppable on that singles court. What a week it's been. 100 straight wins, unbeaten, a Paris Saint-Germain football top, and now a Roland Garros singles title. Where does everything rank in the scheme of things?

DIEDE de GROOT: Yeah, it has been very special for me. I think mainly because I knew my first match here it was going to be either the 100th or I was going to stick to 99. So it was very special for me that the tournament here also organized something, a little plate for me to take home and have like a really good memory from it.

So it's very special to then have that high first and then just to continue, and happily my tennis got better throughout the week.

Q. The final, it was very close with Yui at the start there, wasn't it? Then you seemed to break away and found Diede gear.

DIEDE de GROOT: Yeah. Sorry, I have very bad hay fever.

Yeah, yeah, I think I stepped up from 2-All, although already in the first two games I felt like I was doing pretty well just not on point. So I was playing the right game, just not 100% there yet. So I managed to do that, and, yeah, happily it went all very smooth after that.

Q. As you look forward to the rest of the year, how many more matches unbeaten, and how many titles can we expect from you?

DIEDE de GROOT: Well, as you can tell, grass is my enemy at the moment (smiling). But I like to make it work for me at Wimbledon. That's going to be my next one.

There is a few tournaments in between, but still, I really like to just go from tournament to tournament. So it sounds a little bit boring. I like what Iga said the other day, like sometimes being very strict for yourself sounds very boring, but it is the right thing.

So, yeah, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm just gonna focus and play again.

Q. Congratulations. How do you maintain such a high, consistent level? What are the goals that drive you forward?

DIEDE de GROOT: What I really like in practice and in training is to find like the details. So before it really was about winning my first Grand Slam or becoming No. 1 in the world in the rankings.

But at the moment, I like to focus on the little things, so there is also like little victory moments. So, for example, today I was just really happy that I picked up my first serve in the second set. Those are kind of things that like it's hard to sort of give it a name. So it's not a title or it's not a trophy that I can win, but it is improving on myself.

So, yeah, that's how I keep it up, and I always try to find little things where I can still improve.

Q. Congratulations. When you won the first round, which makes your 100th win, Amelie came to the court and gave you some like, not trophy, but plate.

DIEDE de GROOT: Yeah.

Q. Seems like you exchanged some conversation. If you can, can you share a little bit what you guys are talking about?

DIEDE de GROOT: Yeah, she really just mentioned how much she thought it was very impressive of me, and also just I think a lot of admiration but also just thank you for doing it here. I was very happy it was there, because I played a tournament the week before and I would have had it there in the final if it weren't for I had a bye the first round. So because of that bye, it was first round here.

So for me, I think it was better this way, because celebrating it at Roland Garros is very special.

But, yeah, I think it was just a fun little relaxed conversation (smiling).

Q. In the on-court presentation, you talked about the expanded draws and how that actually even made it even more special for you. Can you elaborate on that? What makes that so important?

DIEDE de GROOT: Yeah, for me when I was younger, I knew that I had to be like on top of the rankings almost to get into the Grand Slams. When I think now towards the youth, like towards the junior players, they have so much more opportunities to even make it to the Grand Slams.

I think it's so good that all of the Grand Slams are supporting this, and I think it will definitely help raise the level of wheelchair tennis. I think it will need a few years for those players to keep up, but also, I think it's like it's an opportunity for them. They have a little bit more money to spend in the year to maybe bring in another coach to the tournaments or even just playing tournaments.

So I think it will really help the level. Hopefully it doesn't take too long for all of those good players on the bottom of the draw to keep up.

Q. Congratulations. You have many titles now. But still chasing Esther Vergeer's numbers in terms of titles and Grand Slams and everything. Is that sort of a motivation for you to one day overtake her?

DIEDE de GROOT: It's actually a little bit funny, because on Tuesday I played my 100th match, and my dad in the WhatsApp group of the family, he said something, like, Oh, is this a record no one has yet?

I was, Well, it's not really a record, because Esther has 470.

So really, props to her for doing it this long. I'm not sure if I'm going to make 400, especially because this has already taken me two-and-a-half years. But no, it's really something very special.

And also, I think it really just explains how well and how good Esther was. I'm really just trying to do my own thing, and hopefully I'll just, I'll be as good as her in terms of titles one day.

Q. Speaking of making records, in the men's side, today we had the youngest champion ever. The youngest No. 1 in the history of wheelchair tennis. I don't know how much you pay attention to men's side, but can you talk a little bit about that Tokito's achievement?

DIEDE de GROOT: Yeah, of course, it's really impressive what he's done. Already from such a young age. Even now but even like three years ago we were already so impressed, and we knew that he was going to be very good player.

Actually, I made a bet last year that he was already going to win his first Grand Slam last year. I lost the bet, but I'm happy he was able to do it this year already, and I think the future has a lot in store for him.