US OPEN

September 6, 2025

Niels Vink

Press Conference

N. VINK/S. Schroder

6-1, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Your thoughts about the match.

NIELS VINK: Yeah, I started off very strong, winning 6-1. Then Sam played I think all or nothing, because he was hitting the lines out of nowhere, so he played insane in the second set.

I got 4-2 down, and I said to myself and to my coach, I'm going to fight, because I know I was not playing bad. Sam was just here at the moment. Then he started to miss a few things, and then I got -- I turned it around.

I got to 5-4, I think. I got a match point, missed my opportunity, got back to 5-5, and then I won 7-5. So, yeah, very happy about this one.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Questions.

Q. Niels, congratulations. You guys have played each other a lot.

NIELS VINK: Yeah.

Q. Is it hard to come up with new strategies or different ways to play against each other when you are playing against an opponent that knows you so well and you know so well?

NIELS VINK: No, my strategy against Sam is always the same. Like I said in my speech, we always say against each other in the locker room, Let's get everyone and then play the final against each other (laughing).

Yeah, my strategy is always the same, because, yeah, we don't have any secrets for each other because we know each other so good.

Q. So it just comes down to who plays better on that particular day?

NIELS VINK: Yeah, I think it's like that, and I think it's good for us because we are both young, both from the same country, 1 and 2 of the world. So I think it's good.

Q. It's your second win in New York, but how does it feel? Does it feel any different than when you won three years ago?

NIELS VINK: Yeah, it feels completely different, because three years ago, yeah, I don't remember it that good, because it's already three years ago, I was 19 at the moment, and now I'm 22.

As a player, I develop, but also as a person. This one, yeah, this one was, what I remember, a better match. It was a good fight, and the level of the match was very, very high also from Sam.

Q. Where do you think you're better as a player now than you were three years ago? What do you think you've improved on the most as a competitive player?

NIELS VINK: My head (laughing). My mental. I think mentally I'm stronger. Physically I'm stronger. I read the game better. I just developed as, yeah, developed more as an adult tennis player now than as a junior. I think that's the part where I got better.

Q. I know you and Sam have played so many times, and you have a small group at the very top, but how -- you mentioned, like, do you prefer to play people like Sam who you play all the time, or if there is a new person in the division, do you prefer to kind of surprise them with your game?

NIELS VINK: If there's someone better, then I prefer to play them. I always want to play the best one and be the best one. For example, this tournament we had three young guys: Ben Wenzel, Jin Woodman, and Gonzalo Lazarte.

I played Ben in the first round. That was a very good match. I won 6-3, 6-1, but the match was so close. It's good that we have new ones coming. I think this is the first slam that I'm not the youngest (laughing), so that's also very funny.

Q. The Netherlands has so many great wheelchair tennis players now with you guys and obviously the women. Do you think it's just a matter of it being a priority of the government funding? Is it that you all push each other and make each other better? Why do you think your country has been so successful doing this?

NIELS VINK: Yeah, I don't know. Because I think we had -- since there is wheelchair tennis, we always had good players. I think that's also good for -- I remember when I was a junior, I was, yeah, looking at, what was it -- I think the final in Rio was Yskje Griffioen against Anique van Koot. They were in the final, so they were fighting for gold. I remember watching it at home.

Yeah, I don't know. We practice with each other a lot. Yeah, we try to make each other better, I think. I think that's the good thing. Yeah, we share with each other also different categories. We train with woman, men, and quads all together.

Q. (Off microphone.)

NIELS VINK: Yeah, yeah.