Alcott and De Groot eye historic Golden Slam in New York
Dylan Alcott and Diede de Groot attempt to complete a feat only previously achieved by Steffi Graf when the Tokyo 2020 gold medallists line up for this week’s US Open wheelchair tennis competition, which begins in New York on Thursday.
Up to this point both Alcott and De Groot have been reluctant to speak about the possibilities of winning the Golden Slam, such is the enormity of winning all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic or Paralympic gold medal in the same year. Their hesitance is based on their own experiences in 2019, when Alcott came closest to becoming the first wheelchair player to complete a calendar Grand Slam in singles competition.
The Australian got as far as the quad singles final in New York in 2019 with the dream still alive, only to produce what he regards as arguably his worst performance at a Grand Slam. He won just one game against Britain’s Andy Lapthorne in his only singles loss of the season.
For De Groot, focusing on what might have been ultimately resulted in her calendar Grand Slam dreams coming to an end at Wimbledon in 2019, against fellow Dutchwoman Aniek van Koot, although De Groot would go on to triumph in New York to claim the second of her three US Open women’s singles titles to date.
That Alcott and De Groot have the opportunity to join Graf as winners of the Golden Slam is history in itself. This is the first year that wheelchair tennis has been played at the US Open in the same year as a Paralympic Tennis Event.
Secondly, it is the first year that the US Open quad draw has featured eight players, therefore being played out in knock-out format, the same as the men’s and women’s draws. It brings the number of wheelchair players who will be in New York to wow the crowds to 24.
Alcott and Lapthorne are in opposite halves of the quad singles draw this year, with Lapthorne set for another Australian challenge in Thursday's quarter-finals, when he comes up against US Open debutant Heath Davidson.
Alcott will open his bid for this year's title against Bryan Barten. However, arguably the pick of the quad singles quarter-finals will see Sam Schroder open his title defence against fellow Tokyo Paralympic medallist Niels Vink.
Crowds are something that the world’s top wheelchair players have missed at the Grand Slams since the start of the pandemic. Indeed, 12 months ago the US Open was the first ‘behind-closed doors’ Grand Slam at which wheelchair tennis was played.
However, the 2020 US Open had more important wheelchair tennis history attached to it after Shingo Kunieda claimed his seventh men’s singles title in New York to break the record for the most Grand Slam titles won by a wheelchair player.
Kunieda is still on 45 Grand Slam titles across singles and doubles events and in the wake of claiming his third Paralympic men’s singles gold medal on home soil in Tokyo on Saturday, it remains to be seen if he can leave New York with his first Grand Slam title of 2021.
The world No. 1 begins his title defence against American wild card Casey Ratzlaff, with a potential semi-final against Tokyo silver medallist Tom Egberink or bronze medallist Gordon Reid.
Also set to meet in the last eight are Gustavo Fernandez and Stephane Houdet. In 2019 Houdet ended the Argentinian's hopes of completing the calendar Grand Slam when they went head-to-head in the semi-finals, but Fernandez came out on top when they met in their opening match in New York 12 months ago.
De Groot's Golden Slam ambitions open in New York with a contest against Colombia's Angelica Bernal. Bernal will be hoping for a better outcome to their quarter-final at Roland Garros in June, which De Groot won without dropping a game.
Second seed Yui Kamiji starts her bid for a third US Open title against Wimbledon finalist Kgothatso Montjane, while 2013 champion Aniek van Koot plays the USA's Dana Mathewson. Jordanne Whiley, the 2015 champion, will play Momoko Ohtani of Japan.
The men’s, women’s and quad singles quarter-finals begin four days of competition. The doubles finals are scheduled for Saturday, with the singles finals all scheduled for Sunday.
Although their hopes of completing the first ever Golden Slam in doubles came to an end in Tokyo, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid will also bid to claim a calendar Grand Slam as they bid for their fifth successive US Open men’s doubles title and their eighth successive Grand Slam title as a partnership.