Diede de Groot

About Diede de Groot

Diede de Groot lives up to her name, as she is truly exceptional in wheelchair tennis. Since 2015, Diede has been playing professionally and has amazed friends and foes alike with her results. The player from Oudewater rapidly climbed to the number one position in the international rankings in both singles and doubles. Additionally, she has won multiple titles at the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open, the World Championships, and the National Championship. In 2021, Diede became the Paralympic champion in both singles and doubles. She also achieved the Golden Slam.

Besides her mission in sports, Diede aims to show that a disability does not have to be experienced as a handicap. With her ambassador roles at the Esther Vergeer Foundation, the Disabled Sports Fund, and as a global ambassador for Runway of Dreams, she hopes to get as many people, with or without disabilities, involved in sports and to raise awareness for people with disabilities.

When Diede was born in the hospital in Woerden, it quickly became clear that her right leg was not the same length as her left leg; her thigh was shortened and her hip was not properly formed. On her first birthday, she received her first prosthesis, and shortly thereafter, she took her first steps. To stabilize her hip, Diede has undergone several surgeries, but due to the significant difference in leg length, she will always remain dependent on a prosthesis.

Introduction to Tennis

At the age of seven, after obtaining her swimming diplomas, Diede wanted to start playing tennis. Since she is not dependent on a wheelchair in her daily life, choosing wheelchair tennis was a big step. On the advice of the rehabilitation center ‘De Hoogstraat’, she took this step anyway.

After obtaining her HAVO diploma in 2015, Diede decided to pursue wheelchair tennis full-time. From that moment on, her life was entirely focused on the sport. Diede combines her training under the guidance of Amanda Hopmans in Alphen aan den Rijn with the training of national coach Dennis Sporrel at the KNLTB in Amstelveen. Her first goal as a professional tennis player was to qualify for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, after which her first Grand Slam title followed quickly, and she reached the top of the world rankings in 2018.