Hewett and Oda to battle for No. 1 ranking in Roland Garros final
Top two seeds Alfie Hewett and Tokito Oda will compete for both the Roland Garros title and the world No. 1 ranking when they meet in the men’s wheelchair singles final in Paris on Saturday.
Both the women’s wheelchair singles final and the quad wheelchair singles final will also be contested by the top two seeds – Diede de Groot and Yui Kamiji in the women’s draw and Niels Vink and Sam Schroder in the quad draw. All three singles finals in Paris will be re-matches of the singles finals from January’s Australian Open.
But while De Groot and Vink will remain as world No. 1 in their respective categories regardless of the outcome of their matches on Saturday, the top ranking is within sight for Japan’s Oda.
“To be the No. 1 is one of the biggest dreams,” Oda reflected after his 6-2 7-6(6) win against Spain’s Martin de la Puente in the semi-finals. “And also winning this tournament [would be] a dream. So two dreams here… but I will just go for it, I will just enjoy it. I will be ready for the much.”
If he is to achieve those dreams on Saturday, Oda will have to defeat the incumbent world No. 1 player – which would be no mean feat. The British player described his performance during his 6-2 6-2 victory against No. 3 seed Gustavo Fernandez in Thursday’s semi-final as “close to perfection”.
“I just had a quick word with my coach. We've been working together for four years now and he said it's probably up there as one of my best performances,” Hewett continued. “One more match to go and I’ll focus on that, but I can take a lot of confidence away from that performance.”
It was once Hewett who was the young upstart causing the established figures on the tour problems – but at 25 and with six Grand Slam titles to his name, he certainly has the edge when it comes to experience of the sport’s biggest stages. Oda won just four games when the pair met in the final in Melbourne earlier this year – and the 17-year-old will be desperate to run Hewett closer this time round.
“The Australian Open, I tried too hard,” Oda analysed. “And he was playing really well. So I'm really excited to play against him and I just need to do what I want to do. I just need to believe in myself and I think I have got a chance.”
Hewett was certainly taking nothing for granted, despite his comfortable victory in Melbourne.
“He'll be desperate to for some revenge I imagine,” he laughed. “The fact that he's only 17 now and is already making regular Grand Slam semis and finals just goes to show how much skill he has and what he can bring to the game.”
Victory for Oda would also see him claim another record from Hewett – that of the youngest player to win a Grand Slam men’s wheelchair singles title, which the Brit currently holds from his 2017 Roland Garros victory as a 19-year-old. Indeed at 17 years and 34 days old, Oda would become the youngest male Grand Slam singles champion in any discipline since the professional era of tennis began in 1968.
History also beckons in the women’s final, where De Groot will aim for a 10th consecutive Grand Slam singles title, while Kamiji looks to end De Groot’s winning run and claim her fifth Roland Garros crown. Both recorded straight-sets victories on Thursday, with De Groot defeating Momoko Ohtani 6-3 6-2 and Kamiji beating Jiske Griffioen by the same scoreline.
In the quad final, Vink and Schroder will meet for the fifth consecutive Grand Slam final – with the winner set to move ahead in their personal rivalry, with the pair having each won two of the four previous major finals they have contested. Schroder romped to a 6-0 6-0 win against David Wagner on Thursday, while Vink recorded a 6-4 6-2 triumph over Koji Sugeno. A win for Schroder in the final would also see him become fourth wheelchair tennis player to complete the Grand Slam.