Vink, Hewett and De Groot lift NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters titles
Niels Vink, Diede de Groot and Alfie Hewett ended their 2023 seasons as quad, women’s and men’s singles champions at the NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters and ITF Wheelchair Double Masters on Sunday, when emotions on the court were occasionally as turbulent as the windy weather.
Vink and Hewett capped their visit to the Emilio Sanchez Academy in Barcelona as doubles champions too, and for Barcelona-fan Vink there was the added pleasure of having his photo taken with his second NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters trophy while sporting the football shirt of his favourite team outside of the Netherlands.
“Maybe not everyone knows, but Barcelona is one of my favourite cities and I’m already looking forward to playing a tournament next year in Barcelona again,” said Vink after his 6-4 4-2 victory over world No. 2 Sam Schroder saw him regain the Masters title from Schroder, the only player to have beaten Vink during a season almost as dominant as that enjoyed by women’s champion De Groot.
However, Vink’s third successive Singles Masters final against Schroder was not without its dramas.
“After one game in the second set I felt that my tyre was flat and so we needed a 15-minute break,” Vink recounted for anyone who had not watched the livestream. ”Then I remembered that I’d bought my old chair with me so I told my coach that he has to give me my old wheels. So I had to play (the rest of the match) with my old wheels, but it was an amazing match for me."
The change in equipment did Vink little harm as he reeled off the last five games of the match to make it 12 titles in 14 singles tournaments in 2023, with 12 doubles titles in 13 tournaments.
“I know Sam very well, we won everything (in doubles) apart from one match this year.,” added Vink. "We have a lot of respect for each other. He won at the US Open so it’s good (for me) to be back wining again.
“This season has been insane. I’ve only lost two singles matches in the whole year (both to Schroder), so that’s crazy. This season has been incredible.”
Hewett set for year-end No. 1 ranking after third Masters title
Hewett has the distinction of winning all three of his Singles Masters titles and all three of his Doubles Masters titles in the same season. However, after doing ‘the double’ in 2017 and 2021, 2023 will end with an added and long sought-after accolade.
"I'm obviously super happy. It was one of my goals when I sat down at the beginning of the year; I said I wanted to finish the year as number one,” said Hewett after completing his 4-6 6-1 6-3 victory over world No. 3 Gustavo Fernandez for his second win over the Argentinian in a week. He had also beaten Fernandez in straight sets in their round-robin group.
To be able to say we did it is something I'm extremely proud of and to win the Masters singles title at the same time is an even more special feeling."
"I didn’t control my emotions too well during the first set, but turned that around and became a lot calmer in the second and third sets and I was able to accept the conditions and play the tennis I’m capable and the results speaks for itself,” added Hewett, who benefited from a Fernandez double fault to allow the second seed to establish a cushion at 5-3 in the final set.
It was also Fernandez that earned the result that guaranteed Hewett his return to the top of the rankings after the Argentinian beat top seed and defending champion Tokito Oda in the semi-finals.
“It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time, to finish the year as world No. 1. I’ve been second a few times now and that’s always played on my mind. So to achieve it a couple of days ago with Gusti winning (his semi-final), it was an emotional moment, so I went into this final wanting to showcase why I am where I am now in the rankings.”
De Groot makes it six consecutive NEC Singles Masters titles
While the blustery conditions may have abated a little for the men’s singles and quad singles finals, De Groot and Yui Kamiji had to contend with the full force of the wind as the women’s singles final kicked off the last day of play.
“I think today was one of the most extreme circumstances I’ve had maybe in my career,” said De Groot after completing her 1-6 6-1 6-4 victory over world No. 2 Kamiji. “I remember some tough matches in Australia but this definitely makes top three (of extreme weather conditions). In a final against Yui so many things come together, so it was extremely difficult and only one game with the wind made the difference for me to be able to take that third set, so I’m very happy.”
Kamiji started 2023 by taking the first set off De Groot in each of their first three finals of the year. After five straight sets wins for De Groot, Kamiji brought her A-game 10 years on from her 2013 Masters victory, when she became the only non-Dutch winner of the women’s singles titles.
However, after two one-sided sets, De Groot secured the first service hold of the final set, which proved crucial to eventually wrapping up her 127th consecutive singles match-win.
“It's been a difficult season for me because it was very busy, but not just with tennis,” De Groot said, revealing the strength of the athlete behind the raw statistics. “I had a few things going on in my personal life which made it difficult outside of the tennis court and then it’s difficult on the tennis court and you always kind of drag it with you, but that’s why I’m more proud to end it like this. I’ll take a few days off, but I don’t want to go away on holiday. I’ve done a lot of travelling this year."
As the 2023 season closes for the players at the top of the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis Rankings, a Paralympic year in 2024 is not far away.