Van Koot's magical Wimbledon win

“They say magic happens at Wimbledon,” explains Aniek van Koot, “and I still don’t know how I won. I’m so fortunate to be a part of it.”

Van Koot, a former wheelchair tennis world No. 1, has won almost everything there is to win in her sport but the singles title at the All England Lawn Tennis Club is something that she has targeted ever since its introduction in 2016.

And the 2019 Wimbledon Championships had an inauspicious start for the Dutchwoman, who recalls the hotel she booked for her and her coach, Michel Lentjes, was “one of the worst places I had ever stayed”.

She adds: “I remember saying to my coach, ‘it can only get better!’. And boy did it.”

Going into last year’s grass court season all eyes were on Van Koot’s Dutch compatriot and doubles partner Diede de Groot, who had just completed the non-calendar year Grand Slam by winning her fourth straight major at Roland Garros.

So when the two Dutchwomen met in the final, Van Koot used her underdog status to her advantage.

“Diede had a lot of fans,” explained Van Koot, who had lost to De Groot in the 2018 Wimbledon final. “She has a lot of British friends so I was already pumped up going into the final. But I followed the rules that my coach had told me and it worked.”

Van Koot, who had recently bought a new house and was in the process of renovating, admits to her first thought being “I just won a bathroom!”.

“In all seriousness it was such a privilege to be there,” added Van Koot. “Diede came up to me afterwards and just said ‘congrats, you were better today’. The very next day we were competing with one another in the doubles. When you are working together towards the same goal it’s good to be competitive.”

That competition between Van Koot and De Groot clearly worked well for their doubles partnership as they completed the Grand Slam later that year by winning all four major trophies together in 2019.

Van Koot’s Wimbledon trophies now have pride of place as soon as you enter her new house (which is complete with a renovated bathroom).

And even though Van Koot will be one of the longest reigning champions in Wimbledon’s history she was devastated not to be able to defend her title this year.

She explains feeling “gutted” when she heard that the 2020 Wimbledon Championships had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but added that there was one positive.

“I do not like to wear white,” she said. “I prefer to be in black. I gave my outfit from 2019 to the Wimbledon museum.”