Gold eludes devastated Hewett and Reid again

THE dream of a ‘Golden Slam’ of doubles titles for British pair Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett ended yesterday. Their utter desolation in the aftermath revealed that they knew it may be their last chance to accomplish it. The gold medal game looked to be theirs when they won nine straight games to lead 3-0 in the deciding set under the Centre Court roof. Their French opponents Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer, who also defeated Reid and Hewett in the Rio final, were by then involved in a running argument after Houdet, 50, sliced a shot into Peifer and seemed to blame him. They could not look at each other at one stage. But the game ebbed away, with Hewett despatching two wild shots in the third set tie-break. A calendar slam is still on, if the pair can win at the US Open, where they head on Monday. But Hewett is playing on borrowed time. The International Tennis Federation has ruled that his disability — he was diagnosed as a child with Perthes disease, which affects the hip and pelvis — is not deemed severe enough under new criteria to continue playing professionally. ‘It’s in my mind right now but it hasn’t been,’ he said. ‘I’ve always tried to put it to the back of my mind and just focus on the tennis and the thought of that right now gets me upset so I’m trying not to talk about it. We’ve put in seven, eight years of work together.’ Of today’s singles bronze medal match between the British pair, Reid said: ‘I don’t think either of us have really thought about it yet.’