Hewett and Reid clinch fifth Australian Open wheelchair doubles crown

Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid won a pulsating rally at 7.30pm on Friday on the 5,000-seater Kia Arena to seal their fifth Australian Open men’s wheelchair title.

The score read 6-3 6-2 against Japan’s Takuya Miki and a player exactly half his age, the 17-year-old Tokito Oda, but it does not come close to revealing the quality and ebb and flow of a well-supported final played in the very best of spirits.

It is very much what this sport has to keep on producing, said Hewett.

“Some of the points in that match really displayed the best of wheelchair tennis,” he said.

“The best bit about it is you feel the love and the excitement from the crowd as well. You can tell they're getting into the match, they’re not just there because they're passing by. They really get into it. Obviously we play a massive role in that.

“That's what men's wheelchair doubles can produce and when it's played at the very best by all four players, those are the sorts of matches that you can get.”

The popular Reid, from Scotland, brought a huge and vocal support with him to Wimbledon six months ago and while today’s backing was lesser in number it was no less passionate.

“Some of them have just flown over yesterday, I think, for this match," he said. "Obviously it was great to have them there.

“My parents are out here as well. It was my dad's first time at the Australian Open. Hopefully he enjoyed himself today and enjoyed that match.”

Reid touched on the trialblazing role of Melbourne’s Dylan Alcott and how he had helped bring a spike in crowds at the AO over the past decade and the 10,000-plus crowd that attended the Wimbledon 2023 men’s wheelchair doubles final.
 
“It's just great to see people coming out and enjoying and getting involved in matches where there's not necessarily a home player involved," Reid said.

“Obviously a lot of credit (goes) to the Australian Open and (tournament director) Craig Tiley for getting us on the show courts this year and the last few years, and hopefully going forward we can get them more and more filled with people.”

Playing on iconic courts, such as Phiippe Chatrier in Paris and Arthur Ashe in New York, is what they train for day in, day out, said Hewett.

“It really is a special feeling and it’s recognising just how far wheelchair tennis has come. Because I know 20-plus years ago wheelchair tennis at the Aussie Open was not even included in the two-week schedule.

"To be out there on Kia Arena and Margaret Court Arena, and obviously Dylan has been on Rod Laver as well, it just shows the progression of wheelchair tennis.”

And another major court looms in Paris later this year with the wheelchair tennis event at the 2024 Paralympics.

“The Paralympics is a massive goal of ours because we've not won the gold medal there,” said Hewett and today's performance can only aid that goal.

“Today I think our level was super high and especially in a Grand Slam final you want to be able to produce that sort of performance when it really counts. We can take confidence from how we did that today into our future tournaments.”

Hewett will find himself back on Kia Arena on Saturday afternoon when he faces Oda, once more, in the men’s wheelchair singles final. Oda, remember, beat him in the singles final at 2023 Wimbledon.

“I can't really take anything from last year's final into this year's because Oda has adapted and evolved so much and so have I as a player. I think the style and the intensity that all the men's players are playing at compared to last year is so different," said Hewett.

“You don't forget the ones you lose and also the ones you win. But going into the year, it's a completely clean slate for everyone.

“It's a completely open match tomorrow. Whatever has happened previously has happened.”

The veteran American David Wagner and his British Partner Andy Lapthorne were victorious in the quad doubles final against Donald Ramphadi and Guy Sasson on Margaret Court Arena in a match decided on a long tie-break after play ended at a set apiece, 6-4, 3-6 (10-2) the final score.