Hewett and Reid win landmark 50th title at Rothesay International Eastbourne
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20-time Grand Slam champions Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid have reached another significant milestone in their history making partnership by winning their 50th title together as a duo.
The pair lifted the trophy at the Rothesay International Eastbourne after defeating another British pair, Ben Bartram and Dahnon Ward 6-0, 6-0 in Saturday’s final.
Hewett had earlier become the inaugural men’s wheelchair champion in Eastbourne, defeating Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez 7-6, 6-3.
Speaking after the singles final Hewett said, “This means a lot. This is a massive summer for us with the Paralympics just around the corner and obviously the small matter of Wimbledon as well.
"This is the first time I’ve played a competitive match at Eastbourne so I’d like to thank the tournament for having the men’s division this year but it’s really important for us to try and get as many matches and opportunities to play on the grass but also the best set of fans possible.”
Finals day in Eastbourne saw British players contest five of the six finals in the wheelchair tennis competitions with Lucy Shuker winning her first grass-court title, victorious in the women’s doubles alongside partner Jiske Griffioen with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Dana Matthewson and Zhenzhen Zhu.
Andy Lapthorne and Greg Slade made it 4 titles on the day for British players by defeating Heath Davidson and Ahmet Kaplan 7-6, 6-3 in the quad doubles final. British quad No.1 Earlier on Saturday, Lapthorne had made an excellent start in his singles final against Australia’s Heath Davidson, taking the first set before his opponent turned things around and eventually came through 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.
The international wheelchair tour will now head to South West London for the Lexus British Open Roehampton which will see the world’s top players compete on the grass and make final preparations for The Championships, Wimbledon the following week.
Speaking after his triumph in Eastbourne, Hewett encouraged fans to head along, “If you don’t manage to get any ground passes for Wimbledon then just pop on down the road and most of the players will be there so I look forward to getting some more support.”
