The ParalympicsGB duo showed their class on the clay again with a straight set win to give them safe passage to the last four.
By Paul Morrison
There was more joy at Roland Garros this afternoon for Scotland’s Gordon Reid as he qualified for the men’s wheelchair tennis doubles semi final with teammate Alfie Hewitt.
The pair were too good on the day for the Dutch duo of Ruben Spaargaren and Maarten Ter Hofte, getting the better of the seventh seeds 6-2, 6-1 on an atmospheric Suzanne-Lenglen.
“It was really good. We came out firing right from the start, and we produced some of our best stuff at the beginning of the match”, said Gordon following the win.
Gordon and Alfie will continue their charge in the doubles tomorrow afternoon in what promises to be a must-watch match against tricky opposition.
The pair were once again off to a flying start as a quick break was followed by a strong service game from Gordon to hold an early advantage over the young Dutch players.
Gordon and Alfie were experiencing more success with an aggressive approach to their play, which uncovered the cracks in Spaargaren and Ter Hofte’s game plan. This saw the Brits quickly find themselves 5-0 and giving the Scot a chance to serve for the set.
Falling to complacent levels, the Dutch pair took the next two games where they won eight of the last 10 points at one stage.
After regrouping well and finding their focus again, Alfie was able to serve out for a 6-2 lead and pushing the Brits halfway towards victory.
The second set opened with a tense and engaging return game for Gordon and Alfie in a battle that went on for over 15 minutes that demonstrated a strong resilience from all players to rush and make every shot. This led to the Brits breaking which Gordon secured with a great showing on serve.
The top seeds then slowly came through the next three games as winners with their effective attacking tactics, forcing the Dutch pair to overhit shots out of the court.
In a repeat of the first set, Gordon was unable to serve the match out due to multiple errors as Spaargaren and Ter Hofte won a deserved game in the set.
Any chance of a comeback was shut down right after though, with the victory being sealed on a fourth match point. An exciting match-up that was played in great spirits from all players proved to be a great contest for Gordon and Alfie.
While the more experienced pair came out on top on the day, Spaargaren and Ter Hofte showed their quality and will carry on becoming a true force as a doubles team in years to come.
“In the second set they raised their level and tested us a lot more. There were a lot of long games that we came out on top of, and it was a really good test going into the next match”, said Gordon.
Gordon and Alfie will be back together tomorrow in the last four of the doubles event as they face the mission of getting passed the French pairing of Stephane Houdet and Frederic Cattaneo on Suzanne-Lenglen as the Brits will have their eye on avenging their losses in the gold medal match at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2016 Games at the hand of Houdet.
“We’re just really excited to come up against them. It was one of our dreams before the tournament to come up against the local favourites. We’ve got big singles matches first in the morning to deal with, but once they’re over with, we’ll be ready to go”, commented Gordon.
Gordon will have another busy day at Roland Garros as he is also first up on Phillippe-Chatrier to compete against Argentine maestro Gustavo Fernandez in the singles quarter final.
The Paris 2024 Paralympics runs from the 28th August – 8th September. You can follow all the action and find out how the 21 Scottish Para athletes get on by following Scottish Disability Sport on Facebook, X and Instagram, as well as on the SDS website. You can catch all the action on Channel 4. More information here.