GWR 2024 Look Inside - Flipbook - Page 6
TENNIS TITANS
SHINGO KUNIEDA
W
ith a record-smashing 50 Grand Slams to his name,
Japanese tennis icon Shingo Kunieda hung up his
racquet in Jan 2023, announcing his retirement.
VITAL STATISTICS
Shingo has used a wheelchair since recovering from a spinal
tumour at the age of nine. Having initially taken an interest
in basketball, at 11 years old he was introduced to wheelchair
tennis by his mother. Within a decade, he had come to dominate
the sport, rising up the rankings to world No.1.
The shelves of his trophy cabinet were soon groaning,
but one prize eluded him: a singles title at Wimbledon. That
changed on 10 Jul 2022, at the age of 38, after a three-set
thriller against the UK’s Alfie Hewett. His 50th major represents
the most Grand Slam tennis titles won – by any player. Having
already triumphed at other events, he also became the first
male wheelchair-tennis player to earn a Career Grand Slam,
Golden Slam and Super Slam in singles (see 1).
Inscribed on all Shingo’s racquets are the words “I’m the
strongest”. With such unprecedented success, it was clearly
a conviction only surpassed by innate talent on the court.
1
Name
Shingo Kunieda
Birthplace
Tokyo, Japan
Birth date
21 Feb 1984
Grand Slam
titles
Singles: 28
Doubles: 22
Paralympic
medals
Gold: 4
Bronze: 2
Current
GWR titles
8, including
most Grand Slam
wheelchair singles
tennis titles (male)
Highest rank
No.1
Preferred
surface
Hard court
2
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1: In 2022, Shingo celebrated his record-breaking
“Career Slams”, including a Super Slam in singles:
that’s winning all four Grand Slams (Australian
Open, US Open, French Open and Wimbledon),
Paralympic gold and the end-of-year Masters title.
Diede de Groot (below) achieved this in 2021.
2: At the most recent Paralympic Games, Shingo
earned his third singles gold medal. Succeeding
on home soil clearly meant a lot to him: “It’s a
dream because after Rio [2016] I had an injury
and I thought many times of retiring,” he revealed.
“So I can’t believe it.”
DIEDE DE GROOT
VITAL STATISTICS
Name
Diede de Groot
Birthplace
Woerden, Netherlands
Birth date
19 Dec 1996
A
t just 25, Diede de Groot has already laid claim to a feat
achieved by no solo tennis player before her: winning all
four Grand Slams for two years back to back – in 2021 and
2022. To top that off, with success at the Tokyo Games in 2021,
she also became the first woman since trailblazer Steffi Graf in
1988 to claim a same-year “Golden Slam” in singles.
Grand Slam Singles: 17
titles (as of
Doubles: 16
29 Jan 2023)
Paralympic
medals
Gold: 2
Silver: 1
Current
GWR titles
5, including first
consecutive calendaryear Grand Slam
champion
Diede was
nominated
as the Laureus
Sportsperson of the
Year with a Disability
in 2019, 2020
and 2022.
Highest rank No.1
Preferred
surface
Hard court
A prosthetic leg has been part of Diede’s life for as long as she can
remember. Doctors diagnosed that her legs would not develop equally
just a few months after she was born.
When she first took up tennis aged seven, physiotherapists advised
she play in a wheelchair. Although at the time she had little experience
of using one, it was a recommendation that she embraced and a
tennis star was born.
After turning pro at 17, Diede rapidly went on to stamp her name
in the annals of the sport. Clinching her first Grand Slams in 2017,
she has since added 31 more to her tally (16 singles and 15 doubles),
as well as countless other titles and trophies. With so much achieved
so quickly, you wonder what ambitions Diede has left? “My dream is to
become the best wheelchair tennis player I can be,” she said.
2
1
1: Diede on the training courts with her GWR
certificates. She attributes part of her huge
success to her friends, who she says always
treated her the same as everyone else.
Find out more about Shingo and Diede
in the Hall of Fame section at www.
guinnessworldrecords.com/2024
244
2: Diede and doubles partner Aniek van Koot
celebrate victory for the Netherlands at the
2021 Paralympics – the day after Diede also won
gold in the singles. They smashed their British
opponents 6–0, 6–1. Reflecting on the win,
Diede said: “Even though I was really tired, it
was a good match… Today, we were in control.
We were getting that title, and we did that.”
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