Rio 2016 Paralympic men’s singles wheelchair tennis champion Gordon Reid admitted he feared missing out on the chance to defend his title at Tokyo 2020 after a positive Covid-19 test in the British camp forced the team into isolation on the eve of the Games.

The 29-year-old Scot, who booked his return to the semi-finals with a hard-earned 7-5 3-6 6-1 victory over Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez, recalled the moment the team received the news just minutes before their bus arrived at the Paralympic Village for the first time.

“There was a restless night’s sleep with the rest of the team having to get tested to make sure we were all clear,” said Reid, who with the rest of the GB wheelchair tennis squad spent 10 days confined to his room when not playing or training at Ariake Tennis Park.

“This morning was the first time that I could get out and go to the food hall myself and not have it delivered to the room. But it’s not been an issue so far, so I’ve no complaints.”

As the news broke and the team waited on the bus in the car park to await further instructions, Reid admits the thought of his Paralympics being over before they had begun had crossed his mind.

“At one stage, yeah. I phoned my mum because I wanted to let her know what was going on. I was pretty emotional, because I really thought at that stage, with someone testing positive and us being around – not close contacts, but still being in similar places for the last few days – there’s always a scare. Thankfully nobody else caught it and everybody’s fit and well.

“I think it makes me feel a little bit more freedom on court. When you feel like that opportunity’s been taken away and you might not even play, even the fact that you’re practising and playing a first round match is a blessing. In a way, it’s helped me, helped my mentality to just enjoy the situation more.”

With wind swirling on a cool, overcast day at Ariake Tennis Park, Reid recovered from a whirlwind 4-0 start from Fernandez to work his way back into the set, taking seven of the next eight games to clinch the opener.

The Argentinian No. 4 seed hit back in the second but had no answer for the defending champion’s all-court intensity in the third, much to the delight of the world No. 5.

“It’s never tougher than I expect with Gustavo, he’s one of the toughest competitors to play,” said Reid, who made light of the chilly conditions, a stark contrast to the extreme heat earlier in the tournament, joking, “I may as well have just trained outside in Scotland.

“I’m really proud of myself the way that I held that together psychologically in the first set, and obviously the way I recovered after losing the second as well.

“I knew this was probably going to be the toughest tournament I’ve ever played in my life, because all the best players are here and there’s some guys in amazing form. I’m so glad to have made it this far already, but I’ve done nothing yet. I’ve earned nothing yet – I still need to keep winning and I won’t lose focus now.”

Tests don’t come much tougher than Shingo Kunieda, who awaits Reid in the semi-finals after battling back to beat France’s Stephane Houdet 7-6(7) 6-3, having trailed 5-2 in the opening set.

“He was really good from the beginning,” said Japan’s men's singles top seed. “But I was able to find what I needed to do and [find] a way to win. I have a lot of experience – I know what to do and I tried to do it. That was the key.”

A quarter-final may not seem a watershed moment for a three-time Paralympic gold medallist, but having fallen in the last eight at Rio 2016 with a persistent elbow injury that required multiple surgeries, the 37-year-old was happy to report the joint in good working order at his home Paralympics.

“It was tough for me, but I found out what to do about the injury and now my body is perfect, so let’s go,” he said with a smile. “I got a lot of confidence from today's game and I want to fight to the end by playing my own way without regrets.”

Alfie Hewett kept alive hopes of a repeat of Rio’s all-British men’s singles final with a 6-3 6-4 victory over France’s Nicolas Peifer, admitting “I have a feeling – I do have a feeling about it.”

The world No. 2, who took home singles and doubles silver medals on his Paralympic debut five years ago, said he was satisfied with his performance, if not happy. “Once you’re here it’s just about getting the win,” the 23-year-old said. And two more wins are his target in singles, no matter the opposition.

“I want gold. I’ve been pretty clear with my ambitions and our ambitions as a team. I set my expectations really high coming into it, and I feel like I’ve developed and evolved over the last five years and matured as an athlete. I don’t think this whole experience is overwhelming – I love the challenge, I love the pressure. This is what we play for.”

Up next for Hewett is No. 8 seed Tom Egberink, who eased past Spain’s Dani Caverzaschi 6-4 6-3. The 28-year-old Dutchman has reason to be confident heading into his first Paralympic singles semi-final, coming into the match with a 5-3 head-to-head record against Hewett, who he last faced in 2019.

“We have played a few times – he’s a good player, No. 2 now,” said Egberink, who is also in contention for doubles bronze with Maikel Scheffers. “We always have big battles, the last one I won in Japan as well. It will be a big one tomorrow. I’m really pumped, both for tomorrow and the doubles bronze match.”

In the women’s doubles, top seeds Diede De Groot and Aniek van Koot booked their return to a second consecutive Paralympic gold medal match, this time on the same side of the net.

Van Koot will defend the Rio 2016 gold medal she won with Jiske Griffioen, while De Groot will be looking to upgrade on the silver medal claimed alongside Marjolein Buis five years ago, after the Dutch duo beat Japan’s Yui Kamiji and Momoko Ohtani 6-4 6-2 in the semi-finals.

“Very happy to be through,” De Groot said. “We’ve played a lot of matches against our Japanese opponents, and they’ve always been tough matches, so we’re just very happy to play well and be through to the final.”

Kamiji and Ohtani put up a good fight in the opening set, recovering from a slow start and even breaking for a 4-3 lead, but the Dutch duo stormed back, claiming nine of the last 11 games as the home hopes’ strategy of targeting van Koot proved less and less effective.

“I would do the same,” van Koot acknowledged, given the alternative is hitting to the singles world No. 1. “I know that I get a lot of balls, I’m ready for it. But that’s what we train for, and I think that worked out well.”

De Groot and van Koot will face either Lucy Shuker and Jordanne Whiley of Great Britain or China P.R.’s Wang Ziying and Zhu Zhenzhen, whose semi-final clash will be played on Thursday following persistent rain throughout the afternoon in Tokyo.