23 apr 2024 om 17:11 Update: 29 min. geleden
Diede de Groot was one of the big stars at the Laureus Awards ceremony on Monday evening. The wheelchair tennis player won an ‘Oscar of Sport’ for the first time and was surprised by words of praise from Novak Djokovic. “Very special.”
After beautiful words from award presenter Ruud Gullit and an impressive speech from De Groot, numerous journalists are ready to welcome the Laureus Award winner. “It was very busy. There were five rows deep here. That is different from the sports gala in the Netherlands,” says the wheelchair tennis player in an interview with NU.nl.
After several press talks with foreign journalists, the NOS turn. While the 27-year-old Woerdense answers via video connection, Djokovic appears. An even bigger smile appears on her face. “Novak is standing here next to me,” says De Groot.
The Serbian tennis player, who was voted Sportsman of the Year, hears De Groot mention his name and walks into the picture. Djokovic hugs her and apologizes. “Sorry to interrupt, but congratulations! Your story is incredible. Your resilience and determination are fantastic.”
She thanks the 24-time Grand Slam winner for the beautiful words, to which Djokovic cannot stop singing his praises. “I hope that wheelchair tennis continues to grow. You certainly contribute to that. It is a wonderful way to show that life always goes on and that you can achieve anything.”
De Groot beams and, after a question from the NOS Djokovic was once again praised. “She is an exceptional athlete, a great person and she had a beautiful speech on stage. I was really touched by that. Diede is a great ambassador for the sport. Not just for wheelchair tennis, but tennis in general. I follow her , I support her and she inspires me.”
‘He has so much respect for wheelchair tennis’
De Groot is still dazed about it a day later. “It was a very special moment,” she says. “He really took some time for me. I thought the most special thing was that Novak chose to wait a while because he wanted to congratulate me personally.”
It is not the first time that Djokovic has approached De Groot on his own initiative. After her title at Wimbledon in 2021, she also bumped into him and he expressed his admiration for wheelchair tennis. “That’s to his credit,” says De Groot.
“He has so much respect for the sport and sympathizes with us. The more sports heroes like this express their respect, the more people from outside will take over. That is extremely important for the growth and prestige of our sport.” And laughing: “It’s not like we speak to each other every week.”
Anonymity on the red carpet is over
Wheelchair tennis is a sport in development, De Groot sees at the award show in Madrid. “In 2019, I walked the red carpet a lot more anonymously. Now many more people know me and speak to me.”
Two-time Grand Slam winner Garbiñe Muguruza, who ended her tennis career last weekend, will also visit De Groot after the ceremony. “We talked about her choice to quit and she congratulated me on my first Laureus Award.”
The world number one among the ‘wheelers’ has already been nominated four times before for a ‘sports Oscar’ and with her award she is following in the footsteps of her fellow citizen Esther Vergeer, who received the prize in 2002 and 2008. .
Vergeer immediately sent her successor a message after the gala. “It is special what those two women do,” De Groot replied.
Is De Groot already looking forward to a new award show? “The big stage is not really for me. I prefer to walk around in my jogging suit and feel especially at home on the tennis court. But this was very nice to experience.”
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