Grand Slam
Australian Open 2025: Andy Lapthorne, Alfie Hewett & Gordon Reid earn brace of doubles titles
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Andy Lapthorne, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid made it a title winning penultimate day of wheelchair tennis action at the Australian Open on Friday after Lapthorne claimed his eighth quad doubles title at Melbourne Park and Hewett and Reid combined to wrap up their sixth successive men’s doubles title.
Lapthorne overcame a wrist injury sustained early in the second set as he and Dutch partner Sam Schroder claimed their first title together after beating the Dutch-Israeli top seeds of Niels Vink and Guy Sasson 6-1, 6-4, having come back from 3-1 down in the second set.
Now the winner of a total of 18 Grand Slam titles, Lapthorne said: “It’s incredible. Every time people say the numbers now I just have to smile, because as a kid growing up I would have taken one.
"So to be in this position now where you go into press conferences and people are talking about records of the game, it’s pretty special for a kid who grew up loving tennis.”
With Lapthorne jarring his wrist while in receipt of a serve early in the second set, he added: “That made it very, very tough, because the movement then wasn’t as good as what it was.
"You’re playing for a Grand Slam title and knowing that you’re hurt and that all the balls are going to be coming your way, because they’ve seen it as well, was difficult mentally. But having someone there (Schroder), who’s so confident under pressure really helped me.”
Hewett & Reid claim sixth sucessive title
Hewett and Reid extended their record-breaking haul of Grand Slam titles together to 22 as they beat Spain’s Daniel Caverzaschi and Stephane Houdet of France 6-2, 6-4, defeating their opponents for the second week in a row after crucial service breaks in the sixth game of both sets.
Hewett, who now bids to win his second Australian Open singles title on Saturday against Japan’s Tokito Oda, said: “(We are) thrilled obviously. You want to start the year strong, and here in Australia is a great opportunity to get some confidence, so to go out there and do it for the sixth time as well, it's a really nice feeling.
"We're so hungry for it. We want to keep going, push those numbers as far as we possibly can.”
Reflecting on his and Hewett’s success, Reid - who now has a personal tally of seven Australian Open and 26 Grand Slam doubles titles, said: “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.”
