Two Bagels on Court Three
On 11 July 2026, at the All England Club, Yui Kamiji did what no one had managed against Diede de Groot in a Wimbledon final. She won every game. The scoreline read 6-0, 6-0. A double bagel, handed to the woman who owns twenty-four Grand Slam singles titles, on Court 3, in the space of an afternoon.
The match never settled into the contest most expected. Kamiji served with precision and returned deep, denying de Groot the rhythm that has defined her dominance for a decade. Points that usually swing the Dutchwoman's way went the other. Kamiji held her line at the net, closed angles, and forced the errors rather than waiting for them. The first set passed without a game conceded. The second followed the same pattern. De Groot, so often the executioner in these finals, found no way back. For once, the pressure sat on the other side of the court.
With the final point, the last gap in Kamiji's record closed. Wimbledon was the only major she had never won. The grass had resisted her through a long career of near misses and lost finals, several of them to de Groot herself. In taking the title, the 32-year-old completed the Career Golden Slam: all four majors and Paralympic gold. It is her twelfth Grand Slam singles title, and it makes her only the sixth person in the history of wheelchair tennis to hold a Golden Slam.
The Long Road to the Grass
Kamiji has been near the top of the game for most of her adult life. Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open all came in time, alongside Paralympic gold and a run of doubles titles that established her as one of the sport's defining figures. Wimbledon stayed out of reach. She reached its final more than once and left without the trophy, often on the wrong end of a match against the same opponent she faced this year. Each attempt sharpened the sense that this was the one piece the collection could not do without.
That history gave the result its weight. This was not a first breakthrough but the closing of a circuit, the last title arriving against the player who had blocked the path so often. The manner of it — not a narrow win but a shutout — reframed a rivalry that had long tilted one way. De Groot remains the most decorated name in the sport. On this day, she was answered in full.
Yui Kamiji arrived in London with one trophy left to win. She leaves with all of them.
