'Definitely one I needed': Davidson, Reid and De Groot win JTCC titles
A year to the week since announcing on his social media that he was withdrawing from Australia’s Paris 2024 Paralympic team for personal reasons, Heath Davidson returned from an extended break from competitive wheelchair tennis to claim the quad singles title at the JTCC Championships at College Park, where Gordon Reid and Diede de Groot sealed the men’s and women’s wheelchair titles.
Davidson remained in Australia a year ago after his mother was admitted to palliative care and his 7-5 6-3 victory over fellow Australian Jin Woodman in College Park brought him his first singles title since the 2024 grass court season.
“It's one (victory) that I definitely needed,” said former world No. 3 Davidson, whose 6-1, 7-5 semi-final win over top seed Donald Ramphadi was just his third victory this season against a top 10-ranked opponent.
“I‘ve lost to Jin the last couple of times I've played him. He knocked me off at the AO (Australian Open) and then just a couple of months back (at the Queensland Open), so yeah, I’m just really happy to be back out on court after four months off this year because I was really struggling with my mental health after my mum passed away. I’m just happy to be back and enjoying playing tennis again.
View this post on Instagram
“As far as confidence for the US Open goes, this definitely helps,” added Davidson, whose victory in Maryland has seen him move up from world No. 13 to remain a place inside the top 10. “I’m enjoying myself and if I'm enjoying myself I play a high level of tennis, so that's all I can ask for. I'm just thankful that I've got a great support team with me, like my girlfriend, my coaches Francois and Marco and I’m pretty happy to get my first tournament win back in College Park."
Like Davidson in the quad singles, former world No. 1 De Groot progressed through the women’s singles draw in straights sets, her 6-2, 6-1 victory over current world No. 2 Aniek van Koot providing her third win over her fellow Dutchwoman and arguably her best performance since returning to competitive wheelchair tennis in early May.
“It's an ITF 2, so it's not yet the biggest tournament, but for me it’s really important to (help) get my confidence back and to really get a lot of matches in,” said the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, who collected her third singles title of 2025 after returning from eight months out for hip surgery, rehabilitation and time to enjoy life away from tennis.
“I'm really happy with the level that I played today; I stayed consistent, even though sometimes there was a lot of win, but I'm happy. I’m not sure I am at the level of 12 months ago; I'm not sure if I'm there yet. Eight months ago... I'm there; four months ago, I’m so much better than four months ago. Like I said, I’m just playing matches to get into the rhythm, which is so important.”
View this post on Instagram
De Groot, who now goes to the US Open in search of her seventh successive women’s singles title in New York, added: “I know Aniek so well. We train together, so we know all of each other’s shots, so I really had to be consistent and to play good returns, I did that well and I'm going to take that with me into next week.”
Like Davidson, victory in College Park was also especially welcome for Reid after more than two years without a singles title. Troubled by a wrist injury during 2022, Reid won the Bolton Indoor title in February 2023 and ended that season by reaching his most recent Grand Slam final at the US Open.
Reid will return to Flushing Meadows as a UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Tour champion once again after extending his unbeaten career winning streak against third seed Takuya Miki of Japan to 22 matches with a 6-4 7-6(5) victory.
“It's been too long (since winning a singles title) for my liking and, yeah, I've been disappointed with the results in singles for the last couple of years, but I’m happy to get over the line today, it feels good,” said Reid after completing his JTCC Championships assignment with three straight sets wins, despite being taken to a second set tie-break in both the semis and the final.
“He's (Miki) an opponent that obviously matches up well against me, so I always enjoy playing against him. But obviously I’m trying to get in the best shape as possible for next week (the US Open). I think I’ve still got a lot to improve on, but I’ve used this week to get myself in best shape, so yeah I think we’ve achieved that.”
View this post on Instagram