Roland-Garros 2025: De Groot Crashes Out Early in Wheelchair Tennis Eight Months After Her Last Match
A legend of women's wheelchair tennis, Diede De Groot made her highly anticipated return to the circuit at the Roland-Garros tournament. Absent for eight months due to hip surgery, the 28-year-old Dutch player, seeded No. 3, suffered an early exit against Li Xiaohui (6-2, 6-4).
Despite her long absence, De Groot’s elimination comes as a surprise, as she was the four-time defending champion and had won five of the last six editions at Roland-Garros in singles (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024).
De Groot boasts an exceptional record, having won 23 Grand Slam singles titles (five times at Roland-Garros and six times at each of the other three majors—the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open), six Masters titles, and an Olympic gold medal. The number of titles is even higher when including her doubles victories at Majors.
A testament to her dominance, she claimed her 23 Grand Slam titles in the last 33 tournaments in the category since the start of the 2017 season. Lacking match sharpness after her injury, she is expected to ramp up her competitive return with more tournaments in the coming weeks to regain the form she displayed before her injury—having achieved the calendar-year Grand Slam in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
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