Emotional Alfie Hewitt and Gordon Reid win again in front of packed No 1 court at Wimbledon in dramatic wheelchair doubles final
British duo Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid fought back tears during their comeback win in a dramatic wheelchair doubles final.
A packed No 1 court roared the duo to 3-6 6-0 6-3 victory over Japan pair Tokito Oda and Takuya Miki in the first wheelchair final scheduled on one of the major show courts.
For Reid and Hewett, both made OBE’s in His Majesty King Charles III’s birthday honours last month, it was their fifth Wimbledon title and 18th Grand Slam doubles success together.
Nothing, however, had prepared them for the atmosphere created by the huge crowd.
Glaswegian Reid, a singles winner here in 2016, said: ‘At match point we were both tearing up. The atmosphere was electric.
British duo Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid came back from a set down to win their Wimbledon wheelchair doubles final
They won 3-6 6-0 6-3 against Japan pair Tokito Oda and Takuya Miki on Court 1 on Saturday
The victory marked their fifth Wimbledon title and 18th Grand Slam doubles success together
‘My first Wimbledon was in 2008 out on Court 53 or something, in front of three men and his dog and my mum and my sister.
‘If you told me we’d be on No 1 Court, with a nearly-full stadium, with a crowd going berserk I’d have never have believed it. It means so much for us and wheelchair tennis.’
Reid, 31, lost his singles semi-final 3-6 4-6 to No 1 seed Oda earlier in the day, while Hewett came through to his second successive men’s final with a straight sets win over Argentine Martin De La Puente.
The 25-year-old from Norwich now plays Oda, the Japanese teenage sensation, who became the youngest Grand Slam wheelchair winner at last month’s French Open in Paris.
Reid described the atmosphere on Court 1 as ‘electric’ as the home crowd backed he and his partner to victory
Hewett said: ‘I’ve still got goosebumps. This is the first time we’ve ever experienced anything like this. We dream of atmospheres like this. I’m glad we rose to the occasion.
‘Knowing I was playing on No 1 Court meant I did not get much sleep the night before, but I have been planning for this for months.
‘Tokito is a talented kid and only 17, so he still has a lot to learn.
‘But he is already top of the rankings so must be doing something right! I hope the crowd can help me get revenge for the French Open final.’