Alfie Hewett, the five-time Rotterdam champion
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Alfie Hewett moved to within one tournament win of 60 international singles titles across junior and senior competition after he beat Belgian Joachim Gerard 6-2 6-3 on Sunday to claim his fifth successive men’s wheelchair singles title at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.
Top seed Hewett reeled off five games in a row on his way to taking the opening set against world No. 6 Gerard after dropping his opening service game of the match. The British number one then started the second set with an ace to reinforce his intentions before winning the last three games of the contest.
Supported by the LTA’s Elite Wheelchair Programme, world No.2 and 2023 ITF World Champion Hewett, said:
“I would love to move the (wheelchair) tour here because I seem to play my best tennis in Rotterdam. I remember when I came here the first time and looked up on the walls of the arena and saw all the past champions, I just wanted to get my picture up there the one time. So, to now come back here next year and see it five times is something special. This is a magnificent event for wheelchair tennis. It’s one of the most special events for wheelchair players to compete at.”
Hewett arrived in Rotterdam this year as defending men’s singles and men’s doubles champion, but his doubles title defence with fellow Brit Gordon Reid came to an end in the semi-finals. The 19-time Grand Slam champions slipped to a narrow 1-6 6-4 (10-6) loss to Dutch duo Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers to end their hopes of a fourth title in five years.
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