Record-breaking Diede de Groot and teenager Tokito Oda win wheelchair titles at French Open
Top-ranked Diede de Groot has won a record 22nd Grand Slam wheelchair singles title when she rallied to beat unseeded Zhu Zhenzhen 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the French Open women’s final
PARIS (AP) — Top-ranked Diede de Groot won a record 22nd Grand Slam wheelchair singles title when she rallied to beat unseeded Zhu Zhenzhen 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the French Open women's final on Saturday.
In the men’s wheelchair final, second-seeded Tokito Oda of Japan successfully defended his title at Roland Garros by winning 7-5, 6-3 against No. 3-seeded Argentine Gustavo Fernandez. It was the 18-year-old Oda's fourth major title.
The 27-year-old De Groot's victory saw her overtake her Dutch compatriot Esther Vergeer for the most women's singles titles.
“Of course I’m really proud to now have this record, but at the same time I know the conditions when Esther played," De Groot said. "She couldn’t play singles at Wimbledon, a lot of the Grand Slams weren’t even called Grand Slams yet. So it’s really not much of a comparison.”
