Griffioen, Kunieda dominate at Roland Garros

“I am satisfied about my game and I could win how I wanted to.”

The Netherlands’ Jiske Griffioen and Japan’s Shingo Kunieda each claimed a pair of titles at the Roland Garros, which wrapped up on Friday (5 June).

In singles, Griffioen won her second consecutive – and second ever – Grand Slam title with a concise 6-0, 6-2 win over doubles partner and fellow Dutchwoman Aniek van Koot. In January, the then 11-time Grand Slam doubles champion won her first Grand Slam singles trophy by taking down world No. 1 Yui Kamiji of Japan in the Australian Open final.

Griffioen can now look ahead to the US Open, where a singles victory would earn her a calendar Grand Slam.

“These are my first two and it would be great to add another one at the US Open,” Griffioen said.

Griffioen sweetened her day by teaming with Van Koot, as the second seeds captured the doubles title 7-6 (1), 3-6 (10-8) against top seeds Kamiji and Great Britain’s Jordanne Whiley.

In the singles, Griffioen faced little resistance from Van Koot, recently back from a shoulder injury, in the 64-minute match. Van Koot finally won her first game in the match in the 14-point first game of the second set. She also held serve in the seventh game of the second set but never was in position to change Griffioen’s winning tide.

“I had some really tough battles to get into the final,” Griffioen said. “Aniek was certainly playing well, beating Kamiji in the semifinals. This is not the final I expected, but I was able to dominate from the beginning and kept my cool.”

On the men’s side, Kunieda has become a regular in the Grand Slam winner’s circle and now holds 38 Grand Slam titles – 19 singles and 19 doubles. The top-seed Kunieda successfully defended his Roland Garros singles title with the loss of only three games in three matches, taking the final 6-1, 6-0 win over France’s second seed Stephane Houdet.

“I am satisfied about my game and I could win how I wanted to,” Kunieda said. “It is only the top eight players coming here, so every player is tough and has a chance to win.”

Kunieda teamed with Great Britain’s Gordon Reid, and the second seeds defeated Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez and France’s Nicolas Peifer 6-1, 7-6 (1) for the doubles title.

The win marks Reid’s first-career Grand Slam trophy.

Visit the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) website for complete Roland Garros wheelchair tennis results.