Israeli wheelchair tennis star Guy Sasson captured his second Grand Slam doubles title of 2025 alongside Dutch partner Niels Vink at the US Open, dominating the final with a commanding 6-1, 6-1 victory over Francisco Cayulef and Gonzalo Enrique Lazarte on Thursday.
Sasson, 45, from Ramat Gan, showed remarkable resilience just hours after losing to Vink 6-3 in the singles semifinals, bouncing back to help secure the wheelchair quad doubles championship at Flushing Meadows. In a dominant final performance, both players needed just over an hour to dispatch their Chilean-Argentinian opponents.
Wheelchair events returned to the US Open for the first time since 2023, having been skipped in 2024 due to scheduling conflicts with the Paris Paralympics. Sasson and Vink entered as the tournament’s top seeds and lived up to their billing throughout the competition.
Sasson’s journey to tennis excellence began after a life-changing accident. The former Israeli Defense Forces soldier was paralyzed from the knees down in a 2015 snowboarding accident in Val Thorens, France, after falling 10 meters and injuring his back.
After extensive rehabilitation at Tel Hashomer Hospital, Sasson discovered wheelchair tennis in 2018 through the Israel ParaSport Center in Ramat Gan. Within just one year, he captured the Israeli Wheelchair Tennis Championship and quickly ascended the world rankings. His breakthrough came at the 2024 French Open, where he claimed his first Grand Slam singles title by defeating Sam Schroder in a tiebreaker. Sasson dedicated that victory to Israel and the hostages in Gaza.
The victory marks Sasson’s third Grand Slam doubles title overall, adding to his French Open doubles victory with Vink earlier this year and their Wimbledon triumph in July. Both players’ dominance in 2025 has been nothing short of spectacular, with Sasson declaring “Am Yisrael Chai” live on BBC television following their commanding 6-0, 6-2 Wimbledon final victory.
Sasson currently holds a world ranking of No. 3 in singles and No. 4 in doubles. Off the court, he remains devoted to his family, including his wife, Dr. Aya Mohr-Sasson, a gynecologist, and their four children. His brother recently spent two months serving in the IDF reserves in Gaza.
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