Fernandez to face Kunieda in Roland Garros final
For a player of such tremendous quality, the fact that Gustavo Fernandez has not played a Grand Slam singles final in nearly three years is one of the stranger facts in wheelchair tennis.
But the Argentinian 28-year-old is, without doubt, back to his best – and if his performances at Roland Garros so far this year are anything to go by, he will have an excellent chance of adding to his five Grand Slam singles titles when he faces Shingo Kunieda in the men’s wheelchair singles final on Saturday.
“It's been a while since I was in a Grand Slam final. I was very emotional because I’ve worked really, really hard,” Fernandez said after his 6-1 6-1 demolition of top seed Alfie Hewett in the semi-finals on Thursday. “I don't know that people really understand how much I work every day to try to be in these kind of matches and try to perform like that.
“So when you actually do that and perform, it's a kind of happiness that I can't explain. I'm still enjoying that for the moment, and I want to get that in my body and then get my mind in the Saturday match.”
Fernandez’s win on Thursday extended his winning run to 11 matches – the world No. 3 is now unbeaten since March. He has also won all nine matches he has played on clay so far this season, after title-victories at both Barcelona (where he beat Kunieda in the final) and Annecy last month.
For Kunieda, who defeated his 16-year-old compatriot Tokito Oda 6-2 6-1 in his semi-final match on Thursday, an 11th appearance in a Roland Garros singles final awaits on Saturday. But despite his seven titles here, and his 26 Grand Slam singles titles overall, Kunieda played down his chances of success against Fernandez.
“On clay… he is the favourite, for sure,” he laughed when asked about his opponent in the final. “I have to improve [from their match in Barcelona] on Saturday.”
But seasoned viewers of wheelchair tennis will know never to underestimate Kunieda, who has dominated the sport’s biggest events in recent months, winning gold in Tokyo last summer before claiming the titles at the US Open and then the Australian Open this year. Fernandez, for one, will certainly not be expecting an easy encounter.
“It's going to be a really tough match, for sure, I'll tell you that,” the Argentine said. “He did amazingly in the Australian Open final against Alfie. He played the best match I've seen in a while. So I'm trying to get focused, get ready, and try to play my game and try to dominate as I did today. We can expect a big battle.”
Before they can duke it out for the singles title, Fernandez and Kunieda will join forces in doubles on Friday – the pair defeated Tom Egberink and Joachim Gerard on Thursday to set up a meeting against home favourites Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer, which will be played on Court Philippe Chatrier ahead of the semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev.
Elsewhere in the wheelchair tournament on Thursday, the quad singles semi-final line-up was completed, after wins for world No. 1 Niels Vink and Australian Heath Davidson. Those two will play for a place in the final on Friday, as will David Wagner and Sam Schroder, who began their campaigns on Wednesday.
“This is a Grand Slam and my dream is to win one,” Vink said after his 6-0 6-0 triumph against Andy Lapthorne. “Roland Garros is on clay, which is my favourite surface. So yeah, this is a special one.”
The women’s singles semi-finals will also take place on Friday, with Diede de Groot up against Kgothatso Montjane and Yui Kamiji facing Aniek van Koot.