Double success for De Groot

A hug, a high five, and then the release of emotion: Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot put the finishing touches to an exceptional week of tennis at the ABN AMRO Open by winning the women’s doubles title. After their convincing victory over the Colombian/French duo Angelica Bernal and Ksenia Chasteau (6-1, 6-1), it was gratitude above all that prevailed for De Groot.

De Groot (29), who was absent in Ahoy last year following hip surgery, enjoyed an extremely successful finals day in the packed Wheelchair Arena. Just a few hours before claiming the doubles title, she had already won the singles final fittingly, against her now partner Van Koot: 6-3, 6-4. Van Koot (35) was the top seed in Rotterdam Ahoy but, as has often been the case, saw that De Groot proved stronger. "How can I ever beat Diede? If you know, please tell me. Maybe I need to go back to the drawing board. After losing the final to Diede I was very disappointed and needed half an hour to collect myself, but this doubles final makes up for a lot, it felt great. I’m proud of this whole week; I played well and took a lot of risks,” said Van Koot.

Diede de Groot, who also won the tournament in 2023 and 2024, doubly enjoyed the atmosphere in Rotterdam Ahoy after her year of absence. "I’m so grateful to be able to stand here again. The whole tournament, the Wheelchair Arena, it’s fantastic that wheelchair tennis is given such a wonderful stage.”

Each year, that stage brings innovations. This year, for example, organisers experimented with data from the wheelchairs. Among other things, the total distance covered and maximum speed of all the wheelchair players were projected onto the big screens. "Interesting,” De Groot said. "We receive that data at home as well, so I’ll take a closer look at it. I haven’t analysed it in detail yet, but I did notice that the player who is behind or losing tends to cover more metres.” Laughing, she added: "So apparently the key is to make the others do the rolling.”

Hewett on a double duty

Letting the others do the rolling was also something Alfie Hewett (28) managed perfectly. Like De Groot, the British wheelchair tennis phenomenon missed last year’s event in Ahoy due to injury, but in Rotterdam he captured his sixth tournament title. In the final he once again outplayed his long-time partner Gordon Reid (6-1, 6-1), and also won the doubles final alongside his former rival of the day, 34 year-old Reid (34), defeating the Dutch/American pair Tom Egberink and Casey Ratzlaff 6-2, 6-1.

For Hewett, his sixth singles title in Rotterdam certainly did not feel like "business as usual.” "It always remains special to play against my mate Gordon. Off court we talk a lot about our game and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses inside out.” he shared after the match. "For me, it’s still wonderful to win here in Rotterdam, in this amazing Wheelchair Arena. When I won my first title, I really looked up to the previous tournament champions; winning here for the first time was a dream come true. Of course, it’s different now, but somehow I always play well here in Ahoy. And especially after my injury, I enjoy competing for the titles here each year even more.”, he concluded after having brought his best tennis to Ahoy once again.