Dutch superstar Diede de Groot won’t repeat her wheelchair tennis gold medal sweep at the Paris Paralympic Games after falling in the women’s doubles gold medal match Thursday. De Groot is one of the out athletes at the Games.
After not dropping a set during the entire tournament, the pairing of de Groot and Aniek van Koot fell to Japanese duo Yui Kamiji and Tanaka Manami in a grueling three-set battle that came down to the wire.
The Dutch team took the first set 6-4 without much resistance, but Team Japan showed their mettle afterward. They took a second set that seesawed between the two pairs before de Groot and van Koot forced a tie-break set which they ultimately lost 7-3.
The Dutch duo battled back from a 7-3 deficit in the third set tie-break, but Yui and Tanaka held on, taking the deciding set 10-8 to claim Japan’s first Paralympic gold medal ever in women’s wheelchair tennis.
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“After a 3 hour spectacle in the Philippe Chatrier stadium, Aniek and I unfortunately lost the gold in the doubles. Well done Yui Kamiji and Manami Tanaka,” de Groot said via X, formerly known as Twitter following the match.
The loss marked the first time that Dutch women wouldn’t hold the top spot on the Paralympic podium in wheelchair tennis since the sport was officially added in 1992.
The loss does come with a silver lining for de Groot. Her silver medal increases her Paralympic medal total to four and marks her third straight medal in women’s doubles at the Paralympic Games after winning gold in Tokyo and silver in Rio.
Thursday’s match also served as a bit of a preview for Friday’s women’s singles gold medal match where de Groot will take on Yui in a rematch of the gold medal match from the Tokyo Games in 2021.
