Melbourne, Jan 28: Dutch legend Diede de Groot extended her winning streak to nine consecutive Grand Slam titles when she overcame a slow start to beat Yui Kamiji of Japan 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the women’s wheelchair singles final at the Australian Open on Saturday.
It was de Groot’s fifth Australian Open title and 17th Grand Slam singles trophy overall. Kamiji was the last player to beat de Groot – more than two years ago.
In the quad singles final, No. 2-seeded Sam Schroder beat fellow Dutchman and top-seeded Niels Vink 6-2, 7-5. It was Schroder’s fourth Grand Slam title.
Vink and Schroder have dominated the quad division since the retirement of Australian Dylan Alcott after the Australian Open last year, and the Dutch duo were playing for a fourth consecutive Grand Slam quad title.
Top-seeded Alfie Hewett of Britain beat No. 3 Tokito Oda of Japan 6-3, 6-1 in the men’s singles final. Hewett, a runner-up at Melbourne Park in 2021 and 2022, won his seventh Grand Slam singles title.
Alexander Blockx of Belgium beat American Learner Tien 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (9) to win the junior boys championship at the Australian Open on Saturday.
“It was one of my hardest battles of my life,” the 17-year-old Blockx said.
In the junior girls singles final, ninth-seeded Alina Korneeva beat seventh-seeded Mirra Andreeva 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-5 in a 3-hour, 18-minute baseline duel between the 15-year-old Russian doubles partners.
“It’s not our last battle,” Korneeva said during the trophy presentations. “We will have a lot of good matches.”
In the junior girls doubles final, Renata Jamrichova of Slovakia and Federica Urgesi of Italy beat Japan’s Hayu Kinoshita and Sara Saito 7-6 (5), 1-6, 10-7.
Tien paired with fellow American Cooper Williams to beat Blockx and Brazilian Joao Fonseca 6-4, 6-4 in the junior boys doubles final on Friday. (AP)
