The world No.1 dedicated the success to his longtime coach Hans-Jurgen Striek, who passed away not long after the US Open last year.
“We started the journey together,” Vink recalled. “And we wanted to … finish it, to win them all. But sadly he didn’t make this one.”
The Dutchman said he had “a different vision” after losing Striek — even though he wanted to win everything, he wanted to enjoy his time on the court.
“If I win, nice. If I don’t win, [that’s] OK. I could be happy if I had fun on the court.
“It’s my first Slam without Hans, so that’s also very emotional.”
Vink also expressed admiration for downed compatriot Schroder after the match.
“Sam is an amazing person. He won this one four in a row … it’s insane.”
“I remember last year I was leading 5-2 and out of nowhere he said, OK, boom, boom, boom, 7-5 for him … I thought, what do I need to do?
“The whole match [today], it was so close and every game it was so close.
“I had to make sure that my ball was that good [so] that Sam is not getting an opportunity.
“It feels amazing to finally beat him here,” Vink said with a laugh.
“I’m gonna celebrate like crazy.”