Grand Slam
Australian Open 2025: Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid & Andy Lapthorne all through to wheelchair tennis finals
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Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid and Andy Lapthorne all return to Australian Open wheelchair doubles finals on Friday at Melbourne Park, with world No.2 Hewett also through to face world No.1 Tokito Oda in Saturday’s men’s singles final.
Nine-time Grand Slam singles champion Hewett will play Oda for the third successive year in the Melbourne final and will aim to regain the title he won in 2023 after defeating world No.4 Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 19 minutes.
From 3-3 in both sets Hewett turned the pressure up on Fernandez to beat the Argentinian for the second time in three semi-finals this season.
“To come out in straight sets in a semi-final is what you want – for the body, for the mind, the energy, all of it," he said.
"He came out all guns blazing, but I turned it on to go a set and 3-1 up and maybe my focus dropped a little bit, but I knew the importance of winning that game at 3-3.”
Looking ahead to his fifth Grand Slam final against Oda, Hewett added: “I feel like my tennis is in a good spot, but it will be a good test on Saturday and I’m really looking forward to it. We both play a very attacking style of tennis and it’s who gets that first punch in.”
Hewett later paired up with Reid as the 21-time Grand Slam champions beat Spain’s Martin de la Puente and Ruben Spaargaren of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4 in their doubles semi-final.
With the final set for tomorrow against Spain’s Daniel Caverzaschi and Stephane Houdet of France, Hewett added: “Even though there’s a history there and we’ve won it (the Australian Open doubles title) since 2020, when you’re in a Grand Slam final it just feels like it’s your first one again and there’s a real buzz and excitement.”
Lapthorne will bid for his eighth Australian Open quad doubles title and his first alongside Dutchman Sam Schroder after the second seeds beat Australia’s Heath Davidson and Robert Shaw of Canada 6-1, 6-2, having been taken to a deciding match tie-break in their quarter-final.
Reflecting on today’s semi-final and before tomorrow’s final against the top seeds, Israel’s Guy Sasson and Niels Vink of the Netherlands, Lapthorne said: “It’s amazing what 24 hours can do. I think it was 4-4 in the second set yesterday when we were really up against it and I was in the same position last year with David (Wagner) in our first match and ended up winning the tournament.
"We had some honest chat last night and came out today and produced what we know we are capable of.”
However, Lucy Shuker’s hopes of reaching her second Australian Open women’s doubles final with Japan’s Yui Kamiji came to an end after the 2022 finalists lost out 7-5, 6-1 to Chinese duo Li Xiaohui and Wang Ziying.
