While Novak Djokovic failed in his bid for the Grand Slam, tennis history was made twice at the USTA National Tennis Center on Sunday with a pair of Golden Slams in the wheelchair competition.
Wheelchair tennis players Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott won the Golden Slam by winning all four major tournaments and the gold medal at the Paralympics in the same year.
No wheelchair tennis player had ever done so previously — with Steffi Graf the only other competitor to win the all five in capturing the Golden Slam in 1988.
De Groot defeated Japan’s Yui Kamiji, 6-3 6-2, in a women’s rematch of their gold-medal match at the Tokyo Paralympics, while Alcott edged 18-year-old Niels Vink of the Netherlands, 7-5 6-2, in the men’s final.
“I had fun today. I really enjoyed it. I’ll never get the opportunity to win a Golden Slam again,” Alcott said. “To be up all year, to win everything, is hard work. Really hard work. To get it done was super special.”