Great Britain’s Alfie Hewett has come through a back-and-forth battle with Tokito Oda to finish as year-end No. 1 for the first time in his career.

The 26-year-old secured his first-ever ITF World Champions Award after clinching the title at the year-end NEC Masters just last month.

For Hewett, the first Brit to be crowned ITF World Champion in the wheelchair tennis men’s category since Gordon Reid in 2016, it has been a case of mission accomplished.

“At the start of the year, we sat down as a team and that was one of my goals this season – to finish as world No. 1,” explained Hewett. “It was something that I’ve not done before. I’ve been No. 2 quite a few times, so to get over the line at pretty much the last hurdle is something that I’m really, really happy about.”

Hewett started 2023 in style, capturing the Australian Open title just one week after winning the ITF Super Series in Melbourne. The Brit getting the better of Oda in both those finals.

But the Japanese teenager would get his revenge, defeating Hewett in the final at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Hewett finished the year stronger, winning a second Grand Slam title of the season at the US Open before ending in perfect fashion with both the singles and doubles titles at the NEC Masters.

As well as ensuring the year-end world No. 1 ranking, Hewett also helped Great Britain to win the men’s title at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup back in May.

“This has been my best season, 100 per cent,” added Hewett. “Once I reflect on that, I’ll be very happy. I’ll set some new targets going into next year, but I think it’s worth spending a bit of time to enjoy this moment.”