Alfie Hewett defeated 16-year-old Tokita Oda 6-3, 6-1 on Saturday to win the men’s wheelchair singles title at the Australian Open for the first time.
On Friday, 25-year-old Hewett and partner Gordon Reid won the men’s wheelchair doubles title, making it Hewett’s 16th major victory.
The number one male single After four games, he was 3-1 down to Oda, but he soon found his groove and dominated the set, winning five games in a row. Hewett won his seventh Grand Slam singles title by carrying his momentum into the next set.
Hewett said that losing the finals in Melbourne in 2021 and 2022 “haunted” him.
“It’s third time lucky,” he said. “There was a lot of history and baggage behind that emotion at the end. I want to be able to say I’ve won everything and this is obviously something that was missing.
“With that comes a lot more pressure as when you’ve not got something, you want it so badly.”
“I’d probably say it’s my biggest battle. Knowing deep down you can win it, and having to just go again every year.
“I think it was literally the worst possible start, but once I’d got the first set under my belt, everything unlocked. The second set was probably one of my best ever at a Grand Slam.”
World No. 1 Diede de Groot in the women’s draw won the Australian Open for the fifth time in a row, defeating Yui Kamiji by scores of 0-6, 6-2, 6-2.
