Kunieda, De Groot, Sinner star in wheelchair tennis Miami Open debut
Despite being officially retired Shingo Kunieda demonstrated that he retains all his flair and talent as the former men’s world No. 1, along with current women’s No. 1 Diede de Groot, won the men’s and women’s singles, respectively, at the Miami Open.
Kunieda, who relocated from Japan to the USA towards the end of January to continue to help to develop and promote wheelchair tennis, was one of eight players – four men and four women – who took part in the three-day exhibition event at Miami Gardens, where it is hoped that wheelchair tennis will become an official tournament in future years.
Fifty-time Grand Slam champion Kunieda took on the dual role of tournament director and player for the wheelchair exhibition and beat current world No.1 Alfie Hewett 3-6 7-6 6-3 in the men’s singles final, having beaten his doubles partner Gustavo Fernandez in the semi-finals, where Hewett also beat his doubles partner and fellow Brit Gordon Reid.
The last competitive encounter between Hewett and Kunieda had also come in the USA, in the final of the 2022 US Open.
“This win is unbelievable because I retired last year, so this was around a one-and-a-half-year break for me, and I beat World No. 1,” Kunieda told the Miami Open website afterwards.
He later added on social media: “We were so excited to join such a massive event! Also, I appreciate the players. I know you want to chase world ranking points in Paralympic year. But you chose to play exhibition match for developing our sport. I respect your decision as a tournament director and a retired player.”
De Groot beat Angelica Bernal 6-3 7-5 in the women’s singles final, which took place on the Colombian’s 29th birthday. But the outcome did little to dampen Bernal’s spirits on an occasion that was more about showcasing wheelchair tennis on one of the biggest platforms outside of the Grand Slams and less about pure results.
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Indeed, wheelchair tennis’s debut at Miami Gardens began with men’s top seed Hewett sharing a court with Jannik Sinner as Italy’s reigning Australian Open champion helped shine the spotlight on the sport as he took to a wheelchair himself to hit a few balls with Hewett.
Hewett ended the three days of competition with more reason to smile as he and Reid saved three match points before defeating former rivals Fernandez and Kunieda 4-6 6-2 (11-9) in the men’s doubles decider.
Meanwhile, with reigning Parapan American Games doubles gold medallists Dana Mathewson and Maylee Phelps going their separate ways to be on either side of the net for the women’s doubles final, it was Mathewson and Bernal who beat De Groot and Phelps.