Australian Open: Alfie Hewett wins first wheelchair singles title in Melbourne to add to his doubles success | Tennis news
British tennis player Alfie Hewett beat Tokito Oda 6-3 6-1 to claim his first Australian Open wheelchair men’s singles title on Saturday.
World No 1 Hewett, runner-up at Melbourne Park in 2021 and 2022, won her seventh Grand Slam singles title.
The success marked two golden days for the Norfolk, who also won the doubles title with British teammate Gordon Reid on Friday.
Hewett was 3-1 down in the first set but won 5 games in a row to claim it and then repeated this sequence in the second set, sealing the victory with an ace before sobbing with pain. happy.
“It was a dream this time around,” Hewitt said Sky Sports News. “To end the week with a first singles title, a doubles title with Gordon and world number one, there’s nothing better than that.
“There’s been a lot of heartbreak in Australia over the last few years. Today was another chance to turn things around and it might have been a little difficult for me at first but I managed to turn things around.
“I played well to control the game and after winning the first set I was a lot more relaxed and playing my best tennis.”
Hewett will chase his first Wimbledon title later this year
Wimbledon is currently the only singles title that Hewett, who has 23 Grand Slam titles in total, has yet to win.
“Of course I believe I can win it after the performances over the years,” he said. “We’ll see when we get there what the mentality is.”
Japan’s Shingo Kunieda retired ahead of the tournament, having won 28 Grand Slam singles titles – an all-time record – and 50 overall titles, as well as four Paralympic gold medals.
“I was thinking about Shingo retiring, someone has to step up,” Hewett said. “I feel, with my ability, I can get close to his record. I have age on my side, I have confidence, I have the style of play to support myself in every shot. hit now.
“Obviously you take everything one by one. But I love domination. I want to be the puppet for the sport.”
Before that, the Dutch legend Diede de Groot extended her winning streak to nine consecutive Grand Slam titles as she overcame a slow start to defeat Yui Kamiji 0-6 6-2 6-2 in the wheelchair women’s singles final.
It was de Groot’s fifth Australian Open title and 17th Grand Slam singles title overall.
In singles final, second seed Sam Schroder beat fellow Dutchman and top seed Niels Vink 6-2 7-5 to win his fourth Grand Slam title.
third seed Alexander Blockx became the first Belgian man to win the Australian Open singles title. He defeated My Hoc Tien 6-1 2-6 7-6 (11-9).
