Houdet and Peifer set up Rio rematch with Hewett, Reid at Tokyo 2020
Reigning Paralympic men’s doubles champions Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer will have the chance to defend their crown against Rio 2016 silver medallists and top seeds Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid after both posted impressive straight-sets wins to advance to the gold medal match on Tuesday.
Houdet, selected as France’s flagbearer at the Paralympic Opening Ceremony by a public vote, and Peifer needed two shots at finishing their semi-final encounter with Dutch duo Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers, seeing a match point come and go at 5-1 in the second set before eventually closing out a 6-2 6-4 victory.
“It’s always the case in tennis or wheelchair tennis where you have just one or two opportunities,” Houdet said of the brief Dutch revival. “We were very close with the match point, and then they tried to do something, and it worked. We missed by a little.
“We were focusing on the ball all the times to avoid our minds from wandering,” he added. “Nico was very, very aggressive, very powerful. I think it was a very good match.”
Five years ago, 50-year-old Houdet and Peifer, 30, were the top seeds in Rio de Janeiro, beating the second-seeded Britons 6-2 4-6 6-1 to secure gold – the elder Frenchman’s fourth Paralympic medal, and the younger’s first.
“It’s just a small part of the job,” Houdet said of their return to the gold medal match. “This is what it means right now, to be part of the final. Obviously, we have in mind what happened in 2016 in Rio – I think we’re going to watch a replay of the match and stay very focused as we have today and all week, very aggressive with the ball, and enjoy it.”
For Hewett and Reid, top seeds in Tokyo after their stellar success in tandem since Rio, the hurt of that final defeat has spurred them on to leave no stone unturned in their search for gold, and the chance to complete the men’s doubles Calendar Golden Slam in 2021.
“One thing we’ve done really well over the last couple of years is have a lot of really honest conversations, bringing out the elephant in the room. That’s the elephant in the room, coming up in a couple of days’ time. We’re comfortable with that and we’ll be ready to attack the match.”
The British pair, winners already this season of the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles, were too intense and attack-minded for Japanese No. 3 seeds Shingo Kunieda and Takashi Sanada, who will face Egberink and Scheffers for bronze on Thursday after the 6-2 6-1 defeat.
The runaway win was a case in point for the meticulous work that Hewett, Reid and their support staff have put in here in Tokyo to keep the gold within their sights.
“Rio is a good example,” Reid explained. “There we played Shingo with a different partner, but they approached the match with similar tactics, which was to sit quite deep in the court, be quite passive and hope we miss. Back then, we got suckered into that style of tennis, got a bit nervy, and weren’t really taking the match by the scruff of the neck.
“Today, we showcased everything that’s so good about our partnership: the heavy shots from the back from Alfie, allowing me to come forward and use my skills at the net. We’ve got so much confidence now of being able to produce that level of tennis on the big stage, and we’re full of confidence at the moment because of the results as well. We’ll be ready to go in a couple of days.”
For Houdet and Peifer, Thursday’s gold medal match offers him the chance to become the first men’s doubles team to defend Paralympic gold, while for Houdet it would mark the third gold of his career after claiming the 2008 crown with Michael Jeremiasz.
All four players are still in contention in the men’s singles event, with the quarter-finals being played on Wednesday. For Houdet, age is no barrier to his twin efforts to reach the podium, which continue against top seed Kunieda.
“Singles and doubles work well together,” he said. "Doubles can help you have a better feeling with the paths and the wheelchair when you play singles.”
On the subject of the 20-year gap in age between himself and Peifer as they prepare to take on twenty-somethings Hewett and Reid, Houdet explained, “I’m not the oldest in using the chair.
“I can still improve,” he said. “And after the match I can give my upper limbs a rest that others can’t have when they have to push the chair the whole time. So I don’t really consider my age given the pace of the ball and what I can do with my chair. I’m probably slower than the guys, not because of my age but the fact that they are used to the chair, and the paths.
“Sometimes I miss, because I’m thinking like an able-bodied player going the fastest way, which with your legs is the shortest way – which is not the case in wheelchair tennis, you have to do some figure-of-eights. Everyone says age is a number, so it looks like it’s true.”
Hewett, the youngest of the quartet at 23, admitted thoughts of the Golden Slam, and the quick turnaround to the US Open for the potential fifth title tilt, were never too far from his mind, but had no fear that it would present any distraction in Tokyo.
“To be honest, this is such a big event that New York seems like ages away right now,” he said. “Getting that gold medal is something that we’ve both targeted for a long while. I’ve dreamt of it, I’m sure he’s dreamt of it as well. It’s a big ambition and right now that is our only focus.”