Shingo Kunieda lost to a British player in the men's singles at the French Open's four major tennis tournaments in Paris, and did not win his eighth victory in three years.
Kunieda, who ranked first in the world ranking for men's singles in wheelchair tennis, played against Alfie Huwet of the United Kingdom in third place in the world in the men's singles final of the French Open on the 7th.
The match was a speedy exchange of bangs between Kunieda and Huwet from the first set, but Kunieda allowed a break in the eighth game and lost the set 3-6.
Although the second set was followed by a heated rally, Kunieda could not take the initiative in the service game and suffered from the backhand that the opponent was good at, and was pushed out by 4-6 and the set count was 0. With a straight defeat of 2 to 2, he did not win the 8th French Open for the first time in 3 years.
Kunieda lost to Huwet in four major tournaments following the Australian Open semifinals in February.
Kunieda "I want to think about how to spend time toward the completely defeated Tokyo Para"
Shingo Kunieda commented on the loss to Huwet following the Australian Open, saying, "It was a complete defeat. The accuracy of the opponent's shot was excellent. I myself have challenged from the Australian Open to this point, but It may have been the wrong direction, but I'm glad I noticed it at this time. "
On top of that, for the Tokyo Paralympics, "Everyone is evolving year by year. To be honest, it's getting harder to win a gold medal. How do you spend the next two months? I want to think about it when I return to Japan, "he swore with a stern look.