US OPEN

September 6, 2025

Yui Kamiji

Press Conference

Y. KAMIJI/L. Xiaohui

0-6, 6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Can you just give us your thoughts on the match?

YUI KAMIJI: Yeah, it was a little bit tricky match. The scoring 0-6, 6-1, 6-3. I think we both played very well. You know, she has power and she has good serve, so it was a little bit struggle at the beginning.

But I'm really happy to adjust at the end, yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Congratulations. You don't lose at sets 6-Love very often. That's not typical for you. What was going through your mind in the first set as she kept winning game after game? Were you in shock, or what was your reaction?

YUI KAMIJI: Well, I wasn't expected, of course, but she played well, and I wasn't really bad in the first set. So I just tried to -- because for this tournament, I tried a little bit move forward, and also I did some change with my wheelchair. I wanted to try it. That's why I come with this chair for this tournament.

It was really work for, like, previous matches, but because she has power and she takes so early, she just stay on the baseline. It wasn't work against her, so I needed to stay a little bit back and hit first opportunity to take some advantage.

Yeah, then I found my comfortable zone more than first set. Yeah, it was good for me to, you know, not just play, like, as usual. Sometimes need to be aggressive and step at the back. Yeah, I think I had good experience with that match.

Q. You became more aggressive in the second set?

YUI KAMIJI: Yeah, yeah.

Q. K.G. is your doubles partner. She really loves playing with you. What do you love about playing with her?

YUI KAMIJI: I should say our chemistry off the court is the best, but I want to say because I like to play with her, it's like even we -- like a day before, we lost semifinal against good players. During the match, I can speak with her what we need or what we can do better.

So it's not really easy. I can't do with all the players, especially like when we are losing, but you know, she's one of my good friend on and off the court. Also, we can take each other to the high level. Yeah, that's why I like to play with her.

It's the last tournament we going to play together for the moment. I'm going to play Chinese player rest of the tournament in this year, but hopefully we can come back together in the future.

Q. You haven't won a singles title here in eight years, I believe. How does it feel, like, different here? What do you think made the change on the hard courts here?

YUI KAMIJI: I didn't think really much. I just really happy to be back here. We couldn't make last year because of Paralympics, so I just come here. Some things changed. Yeah, enjoy to stay in New York and to see some friends in New York.

So, yeah, I'm just really enjoy, yeah (smiling).

Q. Looking forward to next season, there was a recent announcement that more wheelchair tournaments are going to be happening alongside WTA tournaments. What was your reaction to that?

YUI KAMIJI: We already have some ITF and -- sorry, ATP and WTA tournaments together in Japan, as well. Yeah, we already have that experience.

Yeah, of course I'm looking forward to play more, and hopefully people come to watch our match. I think wheelchair tennis, even women's wheelchair tennis, the quality of the performance getting higher, so hopefully people enjoy to watch and come back again and again near the future.

Q. What happened last winter? I mean, we going to see a new Yui Kamiji next year like 2.0 or something like this, because you won in Australia after so many years. You won Roland Garros. Now US Open after eight years. I mean, it's amazing. The best year. Then the final in Wimbledon. This is your best career year. What you change after the last season? What is the secret?

YUI KAMIJI: Um, after Paris I thought, especially my singles final, I felt like I'm really satisfied with my performance, but you know, I need to speak with you guys immediately, and I had to think about match.

Then I had some more idea about my tennis. It's something to need to improve and some idea if I do something different. So I'm just try to work on it. Yeah, it's really tough and difficult sometimes, but I'm still positive to change the way of my performance. That's a good motivate to continue to playing just after big year, you know.

Q. You played Diede in the quarterfinals this year, and that was a fantastic match. You are not used to playing her so early in a tournament. How much did that battle help you the last couple of matches when you knew that was such a huge challenge to overcome, and you beat her?

YUI KAMIJI: For this year, yeah, especially this tournament I felt, yeah, when I beat Diede, I was thinking, like, oh, my God, it's still quarterfinal. Every round it was really difficult to win against every players.

At the same time I'm really happy that we bring wheelchair tennis level that high. It's difficult for me to win, but yeah, I'm really appreciate and to all the players to, like, you know, push each other. Yeah, hopefully I can play better more (smiling).

Q. Tennis is quite big in Japan now. Are you a star in Japan? Do people know who you are?

YUI KAMIJI: Little bit. I hope (laughing).