Newcomer Ohtani to play Kamiji in all-Japanese final

Newcomer Momoko Ohtani moved into the final of the women’s wheelchair event at Roland-Garros with a surprise win over defending champion Diede de Groot.

Playing in just her second major following her debut at last month’s US Open, Ohtani dethroned the eight-time major singles winner from the Netherlands, 7-5, 6-4.

“I had never won against her before, so I did not expect this,” Ohtani told reporters. “I never expected to win two matches and reach the final at my first French Open.”

Three-time champion Yui Kamiji set up an all-Japanese women’s final as she eased past Aniek van Koot, the reigning Wimbledon champion from the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-2.

Kamiji, who has won all three finals she has played on Parisian clay, is looking forward to her clash with the 25-year-old Ohtani, who joined the wheelchair tour full-time last year after completing her university studies.

“She played just two Grand Slams, and she is already in the final,” said Kamiji, who beat Ohtani in straight sets in the quarter-final of last month’s US Open. “I’m very happy and I will enjoy the match.”

The second-seeded Kamiji was just too consistent for Van Koot, who was playing in her first event since March and was struggling with the aftermath of a wrist injury.

“We already played so many times before, and we know each other well,” said Kamiji, who won 69 points, 24 more than her opponent. “I played well today, I made many balls to her backhand and I tried a few new things.”  

Tough day for De Groot

It was a tough day at the office for the top-seeded De Groot, who won her third consecutive US Open title last month.

“I am working on certain things in practice, my serve in particular, and I noticed that I don’t have the full confidence with that yet,” said De Groot, who hit nine double faults. “My opponent took advantage of that. It just wasn’t enough from my side.”

Although Ohtani is a relative newcomer at this level, De Groot was impressed with her playing style.

“She is very consistent, she didn’t give me any free points, not many errors,” said De Groot. “She made a lot of pressure with the service return, she made it very difficult for me.”

When asked who would have the edge in the final, De Groot said: “I think they are sort of similar, they’re both a little bit defensive, but I think it’s going to be a good match.”

Van Koot injury

Van Koot was happy to be playing again after overcoming an injury this summer.

“I have to be honest, three weeks ago I was just doing 40 minutes of hitting a day with a soft ball,” Van Koot told rolandgarros.com. “I’ve been struggling with a pretty big injury, a kind of carpal tunnel syndrome combined with a tendon sheath inflammation in my left wrist.”

Van Koot said she had been so keen to get back to training after lockdown, she may have overdone it.

“I went too fast,” she said. “It’s taken awhile, I’ve been having injections. It was a long recovery, but my goal was to play Roland-Garros. From that perspective, I have to be satisfied with the fact I was on court today. But I missed out on time on the practice court, and that showed today.”

Still, Van Koot was full of praise for Kamiji and didn’t want to blame her injury for today’s defeat.

“I did not lose because of the injury,” she said. “Yui just played incredibly well.”