Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid set up all-British French open men’s singles wheelchair quarter-final

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid will contest an all-British men’s wheelchair quarter-final on Wednesday at the French Open after both players beat Dutch opponents on Tuesday in Paris, with Hewett defeating Rio Paralympic silver medallist Tom Egberink 6-3, 7-5 and Reid easing past Maikel Scheffers 6-1, 6-1.

Three-time Roland Garros champion Hewett and Egberink made equally rapid starts to either set of their first-round match, Hewett building on a 4-0 first set lead before battling back from 3-0 down in the second set and saving three successive set points at 5-3. After beating world No.10 Egberink in an hour and 20 minutes, world No.1 Hewett said:

“Tom's a familiar face, someone that I've played against many times in my career and he was someone that I definitely struggled with before the Tokyo Paralympics. He provides a lot of difficult challenges out there and there's not many players on the tour that can slice as well as he can and he's got a big weapon with his serve and his forehand, as well. So obviously it's a good test to come through. Some things I can certainly improve on, but to come through in straight sets is a big thing.”

Reid, a former men’s singles finalist in Paris, dropped just the third game of the opening set and the first game of the second set against Scheffers and will now play doubles partner Hewett for the 39th time in singles competition. He said:

“It was quite tight in the first set. A lot of games were going the distance, I think I just did the basics a little bit better than him (Egberink). I had a couple of nice shots here or there, but I think it was about playing the percentage stuff today. I’m just happy to get the experience and get the win under the belt.

“I know what to expect (from Hewett), I know it will a big challenge, but it’s something I’ve done here before and I feel I have the game to be able to (win). It’s just a case of producing that on the day.”

This year’s last-eight match will be only the second meeting at Roland Garros between Hewett and Reid after Reid won their quarter-final in 2018, when the men’s draw featured only eight players and Hewett began the tournament as the defending champion.

Lucy Shuker’s hopes of making it three wins from three matches for Brits on Tuesday in Paris came to an end after she lost out 6-2 6-2 to the USA’s Dana Mathewson. Shuker and Mathewson will now pair up for the women’s doubles and will play French duo Pauline Deroulede and Emmanuelle Morch in their opening match.

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To find out more about the LTA’s work with disability tennis, head to www.lta.org.uk/play or email disabilitytennis@lta.org.uk.