Wheelchair Masters 2021: Day eight updates
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Get all the latest updates from the the NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters and UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters in Orlando, Florida.
Highlights
- Alfie Hewett defeats Gustavo Fernandez to clinch the men's singles title
- Hewett and Gordon Reid win their second Doubles Masters title
Day Eight
Alfie Hewett claimed his second NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters title on the last day of play in Orlando to cap a memorable weekend for the Brits.
After Hewett and Gordon Reid sealed their second Doubles Masters title together since 2017, Hewett added his second men’s singles title since 2017 after defeating Argentinean second seed Gustavo Fernandez 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-4.
British No.1 and top seeded Hewett battled back from 5-2 down in the opening set, dismissing three set points with a selection of devastating winners, quickly gaining momentum after struggling on serve earlier in the set. However, ultimately it was a first set tie-break that was to give world No.2 the advantage after he saved a fourth set point.
While Fernandez took the last three games of the second set, Hewett again battled back in the final set, this time from 3-1 down. He broke Fernandez to earn the chance to serve out the match and drew three successive errors off the Argentinean’s racket to set up triple match point before delivering one last forehand winner after two hours and 55 minutes of enthralling tennis.
“It was almost like a boxing match – who can land the biggest punch and the right punch, as well, because you can hit as hard as you like, but if you hit it into his zone it’s going to come back twice as heavy,” said Hewett.
“I don’t think it was my strongest performance today but that final game at 5-4 in the third, it all seemed to come together then and that’s when I needed it most. I’m obviously very happy to take this title, it signifies a lot of hard work behind the scenes, with Ben and Donna (personal coaches) this week and Helen back home; Harriet, my family, everyone who’s got me to this point and the LTA and my sponsors, who are a big part of helping me.”
Day Seven
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid clinched their second UNIQLO Wheelchair Doubles Masters title on the penultimate day of play in Orlando as Hewett also booked his place in his third NEC Wheelchair Singles Masters men’s final.
Top seeds Hewett and Reid, who became the first men’s doubles wheelchair partnership to complete the calendar Grand Slam this year as well as winning their second successive Paralympic silver medal together in Tokyo, were in imperious form as they completed a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Tokyo gold medallists and second seeds Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer of France, adding to their victory over the same partnership at the 2017 Doubles Masters.
Earlier in the day Hewett and Reid had hoped to set up an all-British men’s singles final for the second time since 2017, but while Hewett eased past Houdet 6-2, 6-0 in his semi-final, Reid was unable to build on a 3-0 first set lead against Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez. The world No.5 finished the second set strongly, but was unable to maintain his level in the latter stages of the deciding set and world No.4 Fernandez took full advantage to win 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-0.
Hewett goes into Sunday’s final having won four of his five matches against Fernandez so far this season.
However, Andy Lapthorne’s hopes of reaching a fifth Masters quad singles final came to an end against Dutch top seed Sam Schroder. World No.6 Lapthorne rallied late in the second set to recover from 4-2 down and give himself the chance of moving 5-4 ahead, but it was not to be and world No.2 Schroder progressed to the final 6-2, 6-4.
Day Five
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid remain on course to meet in the NEC Singles Masters men’s final for the second time since 2017 after progressing from their round-robin group in the top-two positions.
Top seed Hewett, who beat Reid in their round-robin match earlier in the week, defeated Nicolas Peifer of France 6-4, 6-0 to top their group with three wins from three matches, while Reid won four of the last five game in the first set of his match against Spain’s Martin de la Puente and built on a 4-1 second set lead to wrap up a 6-3, 6-3 win.
Hewett will take an eight-match winning streak against Frenchman Stephane Houdet into their semi-final, while Reid is unbeaten in five matches this season against Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez ahead of their last four meeting.
Hewett and Reid will aim for their second Doubles Masters title on Saturday after beating Ruben Spaargaren of the Netherlands and Belgium’s Jef Vandorpe 7-6, 6-3 in their semi-final, avenging their loss to the same partnership in the round-robin group phase of the Masters in 2019.
Top seeds Hewett and Reid will play French second seeds Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer in the final.
However, Lucy Shuker and Dana Mathewson’s hopes of improving on their women’s doubles semi-final berth in 2017 came to an end against Dutch top seeds Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot, who won their last four contest 6-1, 6-2.
Day Four
Andy Lapthorne kept himself firmly on course for what could be a fifth Singles Masters final as he joined Lucy Shuker, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid in winning three of four matches involving Brits on Centre Court on the fourth day of play in Orlando.
Lapthorne was in imperious form in his third and last quad singles round-robin group match, beating Kyu-Seung Kim 6-0, 6-0 to extend his unbeaten career record against the Korean to nine matches.
World No.6 Lapthorne moves into Friday’s quad singles semi-finals after securing second place in his group and he will now play Dutch second seed Niels Vink.
Lucy Shuker and her American partner Dana Mathewson will contest their second Doubles Masters semi-final on Thursday’s fifth day of play after two amazing fightbacks to beat Japanese second seeds Yui Kamiji and Saki Takamuro in their last women’s doubles group match.
Shuker and Mathewson recovered from 6-1 down in their first set tie-break against Kamiji and Takamuro and then came back from 5-3 down in the second set to secure what had once looked like and unlikely 7-6(6), 7-5 victory in a must-win match. Shuker and Mathewson now face Dutch top seeds Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot for a place in Saturday’s final.
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid’s ambitions of leaving Orlando as Doubles Masters champions for the second time currently depend on the outcome of Thursday’s men’s semi-final against Ruben Spaargaren of the Netherlands and Jef Vandorpe of Belgium, the same partnership that beat Hewett and Reid in the group phase of the 2019 Doubles Masters to deny the Brits a place in the last four.
However, Hewett and Reid couldn't have been more convincing in booking their place in the semi-final, winning all three of their group matches in straight sets. They ended with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Chile’s Alexander Cataldo and American Casey Ratzlaff, their opponents proving worthy adversaries as the British top seeds needed seven match points to complete an otherwise comfortable win.
However, Dermot Bailey’s Doubles Masters debut is over after the British No.3 and Japan’s Tokito Oda lost their last round-robin group match against Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez and Spain’s Martin de la Puente 6-0, 6-1.
Day Three
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid remain on course in their quests for the men’s singles and doubles titles in Orlando.
Top seed Hewett beat Reid 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in their much-anticipated Group A singles match before they paired up to beat the Tokyo Paralympic bronze medallists in their second doubles round-robin contest.
Hewett fought back from 3-0 down to take the opening set of his and Reid’s first Singles Masters head-to-head since they met in the 2017 final. Reid broke to love for a 5-2 second set lead and made it seven points in a row and he eventually forced the decider on his third set point.
However, Hewett bookended the final set with back-to-back games at the start and the finish as he made it two wins from two matches by breaking Reid’s serve to love.
Hewett served out a close first set as he and Reid, the Tokyo Paralympic men’s doubles silver medallists, faced Tokyo bronze medallists Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers also in the second of their three doubles group matches. However, the Dutch pair only managed to take the Brits to deuce once in the second set as Hewett and Reid eased to a 6-4, 6-1 win.
Winners of the calendar Grand Slam of men’s doubles titles this season, Hewett and Reid now play Chile’s Alexander Cataldo and Casey Ratzlaff of the USA on Wednesday in a bid to remain top of their group before moving on to the semi-finals.
Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne recovered from a slow start to their second quad doubles group match and then had a 5-3 lead eroded by 11-time champions Nick Taylor and David Wagner in the second set. The Brits held on to force the decider before making the most of their 5-2 lead to close out a 0-6, 7-5 6-3 win. Currently third in the quad doubles round-robin group, Cotterill and Lapthorne now face Dutch top seeds Sam Schroder and Niels Vink on Thursday.
Lucy Shuker’s opening women’s doubles round-robin contest alongside American partner Dana Mathewson proved difficult, the 2017 semi-finalists losing out to the Japanese-Chinese partnership of Momoko Ohtani and Zhenzhen Zhu 7-5, 6-2. Shuker and Mathewson will hope for a better result when they play Japanese second seeds Yui Kamiji and Saki Takamuro on Thursday with a place in this year’s semi-finals at stake.
There was also disappointment for Dermot Bailey and Japan’s Tokito Oda, who lost out to 2019 men’s doubles semi-finalists Ruben Spaargaren and Jef Vandorpe 6-4, 6-1 to end their hopes of progressing to the last four.
Day Two
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid made a comfortable start to their bid for a second Doubles Masters title after defeating the USA’s Chris Herman and Casey Ratzlaff 6-1, 6-1.
The Brits were rarely troubled by the lowest ranked of the eight men’s doubles partnerships in the competition and move on to what is likely to be a much tougher task against Tokyo Paralympic bronze medallists Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers of the Netherlands.
However, before they play Egberink and Scheffers, Hewett and Reid will play each other in Tuesday’s second of three Singles Masters Group A matches.
Elsewhere, it was a tough second day of competition for the other Brits in the singles and doubles draws, with Dermot Bailey and his Japanese partner Tokito Oda losing out to three-time champions Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer of France 6-0, 6-0 in the other men’s doubles group.
Andy Lapthorne found success at the start of the second set of his quad singles group match against Dutch second seed Niels Vink, taking a 2-0 lead. However, Vink ultimately proved too strong as he secured a 6-0, 6-2 win. That leaves Lapthorne with one last round-robin match on Wednesday against Korean Kyu-Seung Kim, a contest that Lapthorne is likely going to need to win if he is to progress to the semi-finals.
With Lapthorne having already beaten Japan’s Koji Sugeno in a final set tie-break in his opening singles match, both Kim and Sugeno were on the opposite side of the net when Lapthorne partnered Antony Cotterill in the first of their three quad doubles round-robin contests. However, the Brits again had a tough time as 2019 Doubles Masters finalists Kim and Sugeno recorded a 6-1, 6-2 win.
Day One
Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid and Andy Lapthorne secured a full house of British wins on the first day of round-robin group play in Orlando as they got their Singles Masters title challenges underway.
Lapthorne had by far the toughest match as the world No.6 and four-time quad singles Masters finalist came up against Japan’s world No.5 Koji Sugeno and recovered from 2-0 down in the third and final set to edge to a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) victory in their quad singles Group B contest.
He now plays second seed Niels Vink on Monday’s second day of play, before partnering Antony Cotterill in their opening quad doubles match against 2019 Doubles Masters finalists Kyu-Seung Kim and Sugeno.
Reid’s seventh meeting with Frenchman Nicolas Peifer in Singles Masters round-robin group competition ended in a 6-4, 6-3 win as the world No.5 reversed the outcome of his group contest against Peifer in Orlando in 2019.
Top seed Hewett also opened his bid for a second Singles Masters title with a straight sets win, defeating Spain’s Martin de la Puente 6-4, 6-2. With both Brits making winning starts in Group A, they will now face each other in the second round of matches on Tuesday’s third day of action. However, Hewett and Reid do not get a day off as they now pair up to play American duo Chris Herman and Conner Stroud in their first of three men’s doubles group matches.
Dermot Bailey also gets his Masters debut underway on Monday’s second day of play in Orlando, when he pairs up with Japan’s Tokito Oda to face three-time Doubles Masters champions Stephane Houdet and Peifer.
- Alfie Hewett beats Gordon Reid as both Brits remain on course to qualify for Singles Masters semi-finals
- Hewett and Reid remain unbeaten in men’s doubles
- Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne recover to beat 11-time Doubles Masters champions
