NEW YORK, United States – Israeli wheelchair tennis star Guy Sasson came within a single victory of completing one of the sport’s most difficult achievements, falling with Dutch partner Niels Vink in the U.S. Open quad wheelchair doubles final after winning the first three Grand Slam tournaments of 2026.
Sasson and Vink entered the final Grand Slam of the season as the No. 1 seeds and defending U.S. Open champions. Their pursuit of the calendar Grand Slam ended September 11 when Sam Schröder of the Netherlands and Jin Woodman of Australia defeated them 3-6, 6-2, [10-7] at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The deciding match tiebreak separated another major championship from a place in wheelchair tennis history.
Sasson and Vink arrived in New York after winning the quad doubles championships at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. A fourth consecutive major in New York would have completed their sweep of all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same calendar year.
Instead, Schröder and Woodman prevailed 10-7 in the deciding tiebreak to capture their first Grand Slam championship together.
One Match From A Grand Slam
The loss ended an exceptional run by Sasson and Vink.
They were also the defending champions in New York, having captured the 2025 U.S. Open quad doubles title with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory over Francisco Cayulef and Gonzalo Enrique Lazarte.
At this year’s tournament, Sasson and Vink opened their doubles campaign emphatically.
The top seeds defeated Gregory Slade and Heath Davidson 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals, immediately advancing to the semifinals without surrendering a game.
Their run carried them into the championship match against second seeds Schröder and Woodman.
Sasson and Vink took the opening set 6-3, putting themselves one set away from completing the calendar Grand Slam.
Schröder and Woodman responded by taking the second 6-2.
That left the entire championship, and Sasson and Vink’s Grand Slam bid, to a 10-point match tiebreak.
Schröder and Woodman won it 10-7.
Sasson Also Reaches Singles Semifinal
Sasson’s U.S. Open was not limited to doubles.
The Israeli was seeded third in quad wheelchair singles and opened his tournament with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory over Australian Heath Davidson.
He advanced to the semifinals, where he faced Vink, his doubles partner and the defending U.S. Open singles champion.
Vink defeated Sasson 7-5, 6-3 before going on to win the quad singles championship. The Dutchman defeated Schröder 6-2, 7-5 in the final, completing a calendar Grand Slam in quad wheelchair singles.
Sasson therefore left New York without a title, but with appearances in both the singles semifinals and doubles final.
His results add to a record that has established him among the leading players in international quad wheelchair tennis.
The 46-year-old Israeli is already a multiple Grand Slam singles champion, and his partnership with Vink has become one of the dominant combinations in quad doubles.
An Israeli Presence On One Of Tennis’s Biggest Stages
Sasson’s run also placed an Israeli athlete deep into the championship rounds of one of international tennis’s four Grand Slam events.
Official U.S. Open coverage identified Sasson as representing Israel in both singles and doubles.
His performance in New York capped a season in which he and Vink had already collected three major doubles championships before arriving at Flushing Meadows.
The U.S. Open final ultimately prevented them from completing the sweep.
But the margin was remarkably small.
After an entire Grand Slam season, the difference between Sasson and Vink completing the calendar Grand Slam and finishing as U.S. Open runners-up came down to three points in a deciding match tiebreak.
Their 2026 season nevertheless leaves Sasson with three Grand Slam doubles championships and another major final, alongside a U.S. Open singles semifinal appearance.
For one of Israel’s leading international athletes, a Grand Slam bid remained alive until the final minutes of the final match.
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