Alfie Hewett wins another singles title and doubles with Gordon Reid - Who can stop them?

Alfie Hewett has extended his record as the most successful men’s wheelchair singles player at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam on Sunday. The world No.1 beat Martin de la Puente of Spain 6-0, 7-5 to wrap up his fourth successive title at the ITF 1 Series wheelchair tournament and ATP 500 event.

Picture from Getty Images for the LTA

Having dropped just four games on his way to his fourth singles final in Rotterdam, Hewett took the opening set in less than 25 minutes as he reeled off eight games in succession against De la Puente. The Spanish world No.7 had two set points at 5-4 up in the second set, but Hewett would not be denied and dispatched a cross court forehand winner on the first of two match points to end the tournament as singles and doubles champion for the third time since 2020.

Hewett and fellow Brit Gordon Reid, who are both supported by the LTA’s Wheelchair Performance Pathway Elite Programme, beat De la Puente and Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday to clinch their third men’s doubles title in Rotterdam in four years. Reigning Australian Open champion Hewett, who has now won three of the four tournaments he’s played this season, said:

I really want to play here every week, is that possible? For a set and a half in that match I was in tennis heaven and then it fell off a little bit, but Martin battled hard. We’ve been playing each other now for many years, playing as juniors and now we’re here playing a final in this incredible stadium. I hope to be back next year for number five. This is an incredible event for wheelchair tennis to be a part of , it’s not like this all year round for us, so we’re very appreciative of everything and everyone behind the scenes that makes this possible for us. It’s one of the best on our tour.

After partnering Hewett to win the men’s doubles title for the third time, Reid has now won six doubles title in Rotterdam since 2013 and the British No.2 now heads to the LTA’s Bolton Indoor ITF 2 tournament, which begins on Wednesday at Bolton Arena.

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid by Hannie Verhoeven

The big question is however, can anyone stop them? In the UK, the LTA's Wheelchair Performance Pathway Programme is there to support the players at elite level or those that are reaching elite level. The Pathway is broken into four sections to help the progression of players competing in wheelchair tennis and they are; Potential, Progression, Pro Transition and Pro. Currently, only Alfie Hewett, Gordon Ried and Andy Lapthorne (in the quads) are in the Pro/Elite support area of the WLTA's pathway. However, with the likes of Ben Bartram who is ranked 3rd in Great Britain and only 17 years old, it can't be long before he starts taking on both Alfie and Gordon in matches. Watch this space.

Internationally Tokito Oda is a player who will keep meeting Alfie in finals as he is currently ranked number 2 in the world according to the ITF World Rankings. The Japanese player is only aged 16 but has 125-30 career wins verses losses but recently lost in straight sets to the in form Alfie Hewett after he reached his first grand slam final in the Australian Open. Tokito has already proved that he has what it takes to be a real contender as at the age of 14, he became the youngest person to hold the number one jounior world ranking. In an interview with itftennis.com Tokito said:

My athletic goal is to win the Paralympics three times in a row. But I’m only thinking about winning the Paris Paralympics. In 2024, I will be 18 years old, which still seems to be young in the eyes of the world, but I want to establish my own tennis style and create a unique style of play before I reach that age. The likes of Shingo Kuneida and Yui Kamiji gave me a dream and made me want to challenge myself. I am truly grateful for that and that is why I want to be a person who gives dreams.

Currently, Alfie is looking unbeatable as proven by his latest results and his confidence is apparent when he is on court. If he is to be knocked off top spot then it must surely come from one of the younger players who are coming through. Let's hope that doesn't happen for a while as we are enjoying watch Alfie succeed and winning trophies!