SCOTLAND’S Gordon Reid and his English partner Alfie Hewett maintained their immaculate Wimbledon record as a pairing yesterday as the three-time champions booked a spot in their fourth successive wheelchair doubles final.
Reid and Hewett will face Joachim Gerard of Belgium and his Swedish partner Stefan Olsson in today’s showpiece, as they did last year, after both teams came through in a final set tie-break.
The British pairing, hoping to build up their playing time together as the Tokyo Olympics approaches, raced into a ne early lead against Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer of France, the No 1 seeds, then needed nerves of steel to bring home their 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (4) win against the French duo. It was a nice pick-me-up after both had been on the wrong end of defeats in the wheelchair singles yesterday.
“We’ve spent a little bit more time working on things as a team which we have probably not had in the last few months for a number of reasons,” said Reid. “And obviously the support we get here makes a big difference.
“It really helps us a lot, it brings a lot of energy to the court. We all enjoy playing in front of crowds and showcasing our sport to as many people as possible. We love it, especially here. Hopefully we can have the same again tomorrow. “
“There were no nerves, I was excited to play there and get out back on the court after a disappointing day,” said Hewitt. “We started really good, nothing too crazy, just doing the basics really well.
“Our opponents had a pretty spectacular match themselves, two really good doubles players whose games really suit the grass. But we played them here last year and we really dominated that match.”
Bad news from a Scottish point of view was the end to the storming run by Jacob Fearnley and Connor Thomson. The teenagers went down fighting against No 3 seeds Martin Damm and Toby Kodat of thee USA by a 3-6, 5-7 scoreline.
Meanwhile, there was a slice of history at SW19 yesterday when Britain’s Andy Lapthorne partnered Australia’s Dylan Alcott to win the inaugural wheelchair tennis Quad Doubles title at Wimbledon.
The contest saw Lapthorne and Alcott wrap up their first Grand Slam title together after a 6-2, 7-6(4) victory over American David Wagner and Japan’s Koji Sugeno.
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