17-year-old Oda makes history with first Grand Slam win in Paris
Less than five months after the retirement of Shingo Kunieda, arguably the best wheelchair tennis player of all time, a new star of the game has announced his arrival in the sport in spectacular fashion. Japan’s Tokito Oda defeated top seed Alfie Hewett on Court Phillipe Chatrier on Saturday to win his first Grand Slam title and rise to the top of the sport for the first time.
At just 17 years and 33 days old, the 6-1 6-4 victory sees Oda become the youngest man to win a Grand Slam singles title in any discipline. He will also overtake Hewett at the top of the rankings on Monday, becoming the youngest world No. 1 in history.
“Two dreams come true today,” he said afterwards. “I’m just feeling that this is the happiest day of the life.”
While Hewett may not be happy with his performance today, for neutral fans of wheelchair tennis, there is much excitement that a new rivalry between these two outstanding athletes may be central to the sport’s future. Hewett was too good for Oda when the pair met in the final at the Australian Open in January, and the Japanese player knew that he would have to be at a higher level this time.
“I was not changing big things, but only one thing… just to be faster than Alfie hitting the shots, hitting the ball,” Oda analysed when asked whether he had changed his tactics compared to the final in Melbourne. On that occasion, he won just four games – but Saturday in Paris was a different story.
Oda was sharper from the outset, leaving Hewett trailing in his wake. The angles that he was finding were extraordinary, with Hewett regularly looking rueful as the ball flew past out of his reach.
The first set whizzed by in just 26 minutes, but Hewett is a seven-time Grand Slam champion and was not going to concede this title without a fight. He upped his game in the second set, with six of the first seven games in the set going to deuce.
Yet Oda still had the edge and while the Brit ran him closer in the second, the 17-year-old was not to be denied. He broke to move ahead at 4-4 and served out in style, leaning back in his chair and roaring in triumph when Hewett’s final return sailed long.
And so Oda begins his Grand Slam tally, and while he is still many years away from reaching the heights that Kunieda scaled, he was delighted to be following to have recorded his first major victory on his route to emulating his idol.
“He's like legend for me, for everybody – not just for wheelchair tennis, for tennis as well. I'm one of one of the biggest fans of him,” Oda reflected when asked about Kunieda. “I was really sad [about his] retirement when I heard. I'm dedicating this win for him.”
He may have some way to go before he reaches the legendary status that Kunieda holds, but Japanese wheelchair tennis seems to be in safe hands with Oda as its newest star.
Hewett ended the day on a high with a victory in the men’s doubles, partnering Gordon Reid to a hard-fought 7-6(9) 7-5 win against Martin de la Puente and Gustavo Fernandez. The pair’s Grand Slam winning streak ended at 10 title victories in 2022 – but Hewett and Reid have still won the men’s wheelchair doubles title at 12 of the last 14 Grand Slam tournaments.
“Obviously happy to finish the day on a good note and a happy one,” Hewett said. “Never easy to come off the back of a singles final within a couple hours go again. In the end, it was okay, but yeah, I’m exhausted now.”