British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships: Alfie Hewett beats Gordon Reid in semis
| British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships |
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| Venue: Nottingham Tennis Centre Date: Semi-finals and final, 5-6 August |
| Coverage: Live streaming of the semi-finals and final from 09:45 BST across Connected TV, BBC Sport website and mobile app. |
Alfie Hewett reached the British Open final with a 6-3 1-6 6-3 victory over Gordon Reid – only the second time he has beaten his fellow Briton.
His only other win over the British number one was earlier this year, in a Super Series semi-final in Sydney.
He will face world number one Gustavo Fernandez in Sunday’s final.
“It was a big match and whoever won was going to get into the final and I’m very happy that it was me this time,” Hewett, 19, said.
“I took it into my own own hands today and there’s some really good stuff I can take from this match going forward.”
The matches between the two Britons are always tight but it was Hewett who had the strongest start, racing to a 3-0 lead in the first set, as Reid struggled on serve.
Reid then held his next three service games but, with Hewett firing on all cylinders, the gap was too big to close and Hewett took the first set 6-3.
In a complete reversal of fortune, it was Reid who had the stronger start in the second set and the world number two continued to dominate taking a lot more of the balls and coming into the court more.
The 25-year-old raced to a 5-0 lead before Hewett got his first game on the board and took the second set 6-1 to force a deciding set.
The third set was tight, Reid getting the first break of serve but failing to consolidate.
At 3-2 down Hewett then had a run of four straight games which sealed the third set and the match.
He said: “Gordon was 3-2 up and and had two game points to go 4-2 up. I think he hit three or four winners in a row so to break back and go to 3-3 was a massive momentum switch.
“I think if it had gone his way instead of mine it might have been his match but I found a way to get into his game and that gave me a lot of confidence going forward.”
The world number three will now face Gustavo Fernandez in his second Super Series final of the year. Hewett beat the Argentine in three sets to claim the French Open in June.
“It’s going to be a great final,” Hewett said.
“Gus is playing unbelievably right now, he’s world number one, he’s absolutely full of confidence and it’s not going to be an easy match at all.
“I’ve got to be on it tomorrow from the very first point and really be aggressive.”