Tag: doubles

Gordon Reid having just hit the tennis ball. He is playing on clay and is wearing his ParalympicsGB kit.

Gordon Reid Wins Sixth Straight Australian Open Title in Wheelchair Doubles

The victory alongside Alfie Hewett brings Reid’s Majors tally in doubles to a record 26 titles.

By Paul Morrison

Scotland’s Gordon Reid was victorious once again in Melbourne as the tennis legend clinched a sixth consecutive Australian Open title in the wheelchair doubles event.

Gordon sealed the championship on Friday (24th) morning with long-time doubles partner Alfie Hewett, defeating the pairing of Daniel Caverzaschi and Stephane Houdet in straight sets.

The championship saw Gordon earn his 26th Grand Slam title in men’s doubles – extending his lead in the all-time records – while it also serves as the 22nd major that the British duo have won together.

The Australian Open success extends the pair’s unbeaten start to the 2025 season in doubles, following last week’s Melbourne Wheelchair Open win.

Following the win, the 33-year-old Scot said that, “Never accepting and expecting to win and always trying to push ourselves” is the key to their success.

Gordon was also in action in the men’s singles tournament at the Australian Open as the 2016 champion defeated Belgium’s Joachim Gerard in the first round before falling to fourth seed Gustavo Fernandez in a tight quarter-final contest.

Coming into the doubles tournament as top seeds and five-time defending champions, Gordon and Alfie began their title defense in the quarter-final by quickly dispatching of Japanese duo Daisuke Arai and Takuya Miki 6-2, 6-0 in a one-sided contest that lasted just over an hour.

The semi-final saw the British duo face Martin de la Puente and Ruben Spaargaren from Spain and the Netherlands. While facing a tougher test against their opponents to reach the final, Gordon and Alfie battled through to win the match in straight sets, with a single break being enough to take both sets.

Fans in the UK would have to wake up in the early hours of Friday morning to watch the duo compete in the final of the year’s first Grand Slam as they played Spain’s Daniel Caverzaschi and France legend Stephane Houdet at the KIA Arena for the chance to win their sixth Australian Open championship in a row.

Caverzaschi and Houdet took an early 2-1 lead in the first set after breaking Gordon’s service game before a 30-minute burst of form saw the British pair win five straight games to take the first set 6-2.

The second set started in identical fashion when Gordon’s serve was broken again to trail 2-1 before an instant break back saw the set go back on serve at 2-2. Gordon and Alfie struggled to get in front through the second set, unable to hold a break on Caverzaschi’s serve as Gordon lost his service game once more to keep the set level at 4-4.

Leading 5-4, the British pair applied pressure in the crucial game of the set and after some unforced errors by their opponents, Gordon and Alfie sealed the title by breaking serve in a tense game to seal another trophy in their prestigious careers.

In the post-match press conference, Gordon gave his thoughts of what drives the pair to continue creating history within wheelchair tennis and winning more tournaments, saying: “I think the key thing is just never resting on where we are and never being happy with our level, our performance, and always trying to improve.

“No matter which title we’ve won or which number it is, we always go back and review it and see where we can improve and get better.”

Alfie completed an Australian Open double as he took the title in the men’s wheelchair singles final, beating world number one Tokito Oda on Saturday (25th) morning.

There was more British success as Andy Lapthorne became champion in the quad wheelchair doubles in Melbourne for an eighth time.

Gordon will look to continue the early success in 2025 when he competes in February’s ABN Amro Open in Rotterdam.

(Source for quotes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba6eUKmmuUI&pp=ygUbZ29yZG9uIHJlaWQgYXVzdHJhbGlhbiBvcGVu)

 

 

 

Gordon Reid having just hit the tennis ball. He is playing on clay and is wearing his ParalympicsGB kit.

Gordon Reid Into Singles Quarter Finals After Vintage Display

The wheelchair tennis star shined in Paris’ morning sun to continue from strong opening display yesterday 

By Paul Morrison 

ParalympicsGB’s Gordon Reid showed no signs of fatigue after playing two matches yesterday as the Scot put on a dominant performance to defeat Japan’s Takuya Miki in the third round of the singles competition. 

Gordon comfortably booked his place in the last eight at Roland Garros after seeing off the ninth seed in just over an hour of action at Court 13. 

The two-time Paralympic medalist in singles will return to action tomorrow in doubles before competing in the singles quarter finals on Wednesday (4th). 

Speaking after the match, Gordon was pleased with how he handled the top 10 player, saying: “I knew it was going to be a step up in level from yesterday’s match but I think I responded well.” 

Before the match, Gordon and Miki already had a long history of matches together. The Scot had won all 18 previous ties, dating all the way back to 2011. 

Being their second match-up at the Paralympics after competing at London 2012, Gordon would be confident and determined to keep the win streak going after overcoming the Japanese player on clay at June’s French Riviera Open. 

Gordon started sharp with a hold of serve to begin the match when he went from where we left off the previous day to get a quick break in over Miki. 

Hitting some winners to hold onto a close game, the Scot inflicted another blow to his opponent to produce a strong break of serve to head 4-0. 

After saving a couple break points to lead 5-0, Miki got one game back on his own serve which saw Gordon concede his first game on the singles tournament, following his 6-0, 6-0 victory over Suresh Dharmasena yesterday morning. 

Gordon was forced to earn the first set in the next game as he came from saving more break points to fire a few winners and an ace to take the set 6-1. 

An immediate break saw Gordon start to take control in the second set as he then routinely served out for 2-0. 

A straightforward service game for Miki was then met by Gordon quickly brushing through three games on the spin as his winner count increased in a brilliant showing. 

Gordon sealed the victory with a fifth break of serve that featured three winners as he made it 19 out of 19 wins over Miki. 

“I controlled the majority of the match and really happy with my performance,” said Gordon while reflecting on his excellent display. 

The Scot also praised the support from his family and friends in the crowd, commenting: “It’s great to have their backing and they came out with some good songs today so hopefully they can keep on driving me forward.” 

Gordon will now play the fourth seed, Gustavo Fernández from Argentina, on Wednesday (4th) in the singles quarter final in what will be another big step up in difficulty for the ParalympicsGB star. 

Before then, Gordon will be back on tomorrow afternoon in the doubles quarter final with Alfie Hewitt as they face the seventh seeds, Dutch pair Ruben Spaargaren and Maarten ter Hofte on one of Roland Garros’ top courts, Suzanne-Lenglen. 

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.