Hewett & Reid’s run at an end
ALFIE HEWETT missed out on a rare Wimbledon double as he and fellow Brit Gordon Reid failed to make it an astonishing 11 Grand Slam wheelchair titles on the bounce.
The SW19 holders and top seeds had not lost together at any Major since the Championships here in 2019.
But the home favourites were soundly beaten by Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez and Japan legend Shingo Kunieda – and in the process
Hewett’s bid to win both the singles and doubles titles here was ended.
Hewett, who faces top seed Kunieda in the singles showpiece today, had spent 11 minutes shy of six hours on court on Friday competing in his two marathon semi-finals.
Those exploits, which had captured the hearts of the Court No.1 crowd, clearly caught up with the pair yesterday, as they missed out on their fifth Wimbledon crown in seven years.
After the 6-3 6-2 reverse, Hewett conceded: “We’re disappointed not to continue our run in the Grand Slams.
“Yes, it was a difficult match. They played pretty well, while we were a little bit tired. It’s a difficult one to take.
“They’ve been desperate to beat us for some time.”
Meanwhile, new girls’ singles champion Liv Hovde celebrated her triumph by grabbing a selfie with Novak Djokovic.
The American, who beat fellow 16-year-old Luca Udvardy of Hungary 6-3 6-4, said of Djokovic: “He was really nice. He asked me how I felt and gave me his congratulations. Then we took a photo together – so it was really cool.”
In the boys’ doubles final, French pair Paul Inchauspe and Gabriel Debru’s 6-7 (5-7) 3-6 defeat by the USA pair Sebastian Gorzny and Alex Michelsen was sheer agony, after the luckless Inchauspe was struck in his groin area by a smash.