Hewett and Reid end Queen’s campaign on a high with doubles win after singles semi-final defeats
Great Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid both missed out on the chance to reach the final of the first ever wheelchair tennis tournament at the Fever-Tree Championships, but maintained hopes of winning the men’s doubles with a convincing win over Spain’s Daniel Caverzaschi and Stefan Olsson of Sweden.
Sunday’s inaugural wheelchair tennis singles final at The Queen’s Club will see Sweden’s reigning Wimbledon champion Stefan Olsson play France’s US Open champion Stephane Houdet after they beat Hewett and Reid respectively in the men’s singles semi-finals.
Hewett was unable to capitalise on earning the first break of the opening set against Olsson and although the 20-year-old British No.1 and World No.2 battled back from 2-0 down to lead the second set, he met an in-form Olsson, with the world No.6 taking the last four games to complete a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Reid enjoyed more success in the second semi-final, breaking Houdet in the last game of the opening set. However, the Frenchman made the decisive move deep in the second set to force the decider. With Reid missing the opportunity to level the final set at 2-2, Houdet went on to seal a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory with an ace on match point.
Speaking after the match, Reid said: “It was quite a frustrating match for me because I felt like I started well. I played a good first set and then there were chances for me to go out of reach in the second set and I didn’t take them. I thought I was in control of the match, and most of the points were within my control but I wasn’t accurate enough to finish them off.
“I love playing on grass, and it is great to play on home turf as well – that has added an extra dimension to the matches here. There are a lot of positives to take – it is great to some matches on grass and work out what needs to be improved on as well.”
The tournament ended on a high for the British pair however and they maintained their hopes of winning the men’s doubles round robin tournament with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Caverzaschi and Olsson to finish the doubles event with one win and won loss.
The reigning Wimbledon and US Open doubles champions showed their experience against the rookie partnership of Caverzaschi and Olsson, breaking their opponents’ serve to love on several occasions, including when closing out the first set and the match.
Both Brits were in positive mood after the match as they continue their build up to defending their Wimbledon crown, with Reid saying “It was really nice to end on a high and also a great performance. I thought we dominated the match from start to finish and produced some of our best tennis. It is great for the confidence, so all eyes on Wimbledon now.”
Partner Hewett echoed those thoughts, adding “It was good to bounce back. Yesterday was a tough doubles – there were quite a few things we wanted to work on, and I think we came on today and played the tennis we wanted to play so that was very positive.
“Next for us is the exhibition match at Eastbourne on Friday – that will be a great demonstration to showcase the sport, like we have here this week. To be given the chance once again to go to an event like that and play our sport is a great opportunity.”
Photos courtesy of the Tennis Foundation