British power-house duo Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid have kept their hopes of completing the career Golden Slam alive after they advanced to the men’s wheelchair doubles semi-final.
Hewett and Reid put in a valiant display against Dutchmen Ruben Spaargaren and Maarten Ter Hofte, winning 6-2, 6-1.
The Brits' dominating performance saw them break the Dutch-duo six times across the one hour and 35 minute match to eventually book their ticket to the final four.
Speaking on their victory, Reid said, “We came out firing right from the start and produced some of our best stuff at the beginning of the match which settled us down early.
“The second set, the other guys raised their level and tested us a lot more and there were a lot of long games we came out on top of and it sets us up well going into the next match.
“We’ve not played them before which is unique,” Hewett added. “We’re used to playing similar teams on the tour so to face a different challenge today, there was a bit of uncertainty as to what they were going to bring, it was a challenge we sort of relished.
“We really came out the blocks firing, we started really strong and they obviously grew as the match went on but I’m glad we raised our level when they raised their level and we produced a really good match.”
The top seeds rose to the occasion once again in front of a lively crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen. A confident start saw Hewett and Reid take a commanding 4-0 lead inside 14 minutes before going on to close out the opening set at the second time of asking.
Into the second and after a nerve-wracking 22-minute opening game, the Brits caught their first of three breaks to carry the momentum before sealing the victory on their fourth match point.
“I loved it, it was a great atmosphere,” Reid added. “It was so good to see a lot of kids in the stadium and enjoying our sport. We don’t get the opportunity week in week out to play in front of those sized crowds so when we have the chance to, we have to make the most of it.
“That’s what the Paralympics are about,” said Hewett. “It’s about showcasing not just wheelchair tennis but a wide range of different paralympic disability sports to a generation that probably wouldn’t watch these sports.
“It’s probably been one of my favourite experiences of my career so far being here in Paris, I’m loving every second of it and hopefully we can continue with it.”
However, while the crowds were cheering in their favour today, it’s going to be a different scenario in the semi-finals as they prepare to take on home favourites Stephane Houdet and Frederic Cattaneo.
Houdet made up one half of the French duo that pipped Hewett and Reid to the gold back at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, but despite that, The Brits are brimming with excitement at the challenge of facing the all-French partnership on their own turf.
“We’re really excited to come up against them. It was probably one of our dreams before the tournament – to come up against the local favourites.
“We’re looking forward to it, we’ve obviously got the big singles matches in the morning to deal with but once they’re over with we’ll be ready to go.”
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