It’s 10 years this year since Alfie Hewett won his first BNP Paribas World Team Cup title as part of a Great Britain junior team. It was an experience that has served him well and after winning that title in Antalya, Turkey, in 2013, two years later he was back at the same venue to win the first of two World Team Cup men’s titles.

Ten years on and now men’s world No. 1, Hewett is aiming to help Great Britain win a third World Team Cup men’s title in Vilamoura this year, but he retains strong memories of that 2013 triumph, which came within a few months of winning his second Cruyff Foundation Junior Masters title.

“I remember all of it. I was in a team with Lauren Jones and Esperanza Merry, two girls. The year before we got the bronze, so to follow up the following year and win it was special, “ said Hewett after helping Great Britain to a 3-0 win over Poland in Pool B of this year’s men’s event.

“It was a really important part of my journey in and as a tennis competition goes it's all more unique than a standard ITF tour event because a lot of that is individual and you're not working as a team to achieve something,” added Hewett. “As an individual you have your own team around you, but with World Team Cup you’re with other players as teammates and it's different. I always loved Word Team Cup and I still love World Team Cup, but back then it was it was definitely a lot more of a fun atmosphere. Nowadays, as a senior, things are a lot more professional.

“As a youngster it felt like it was a Grand Slam final to me,” said Hewett, who now has 23 Grand Slam titles to his name across singles and doubles. “So that taught me to deal with the occasion and play under a little bit of pressure. Obviously I was pumped and I was excited, but was still able to go on court and perform. And then the next time I was there (in Antalya) I won it in the men's and I was pretty much put in the same position. So I think I learned a lot about management from the two years previously and took the experience into 2015.”

Now 25, Hewett contributed a 6-0 6-0 win over 67-year-old former world No. 3 Tadeusz Kruszelnicki in Great Britain’s win over Poland on the second day of play in Vilamoura. That’s the thing about World Team Cup competition. Players return year on year to represent their nation and Kruszelnicki’s latest turn for his country comes 19 years after he was key to Poland reaching the men’s final at the 2004 World Team Cup.  

But back to Great Britain. With a full-strength team for the first time since winning a second men’s title in 2010, Hewett is hoping that this year’s second seeds can lift the coveted trophy again.

“It’s good to have Gio (Gordon Reid) back in the squad this week. Obviously he missed last year (through injury), so having a full squad and a strong squad is important. We’re able to rotate matches and save some arms, as well as energy. We are one of the favourites to reach the final, for sure, so we've got to manage those expectations.”

Of the 14 round-robin pool ties on Tuesday’s second day of play at Vilamoura Tennis and Padel Academy, three of the ties were in the men’s World Group, with top seeds Japan beating Malaysia 3-0 in Pool A, while Brazil joined Great Britain in earning a 3-0 win in Pool B after defeating Chile 3-0.

Junior, Quad and Women’s ties produce exciting finishes

The four ties across the two quad round-robin pools produced two deciding doubles matches as  South Africa beat Turkey 2-1 in Pool A, with Donald Ramphadi and Lucas Sithole keeping last year’s runners-up in the hunt for a return to the semi-finals after defeating Ugur Altinel and Ahmet Kaplan 6-2 6-1.

Meanwhile, Thailand, winners of this year’s quad qualification event on home soil in Pattaya in early March, took an early lead over 2019 champions Japan before Japan came back to secure a 2-1 win and ensure a crucial final Pool B tie against 2022 bronze medallist Brazil. The winners will join Israel in the semi-finals.

The first day of competition across the three round-robin pools in the women’s World Group ended with former champions China, P.R., France, Great Britain and USA all earning comfortable wins. The Chinese team beat Switzerland 3-0, France defeated Germany 2-1 after winning both singles matches, Great Britain earned a 3-0 win over Brazil and USA beat Chile 3-0.

However, there was plenty of excitement in Pool B of the junior World Group, with both Belgium and Great Britain winning their respective ties 2-1 after deciding match tie-breaks in deciding doubles matches against France and Netherlands.

With the junior World Group event still supported by ITF Programme Partner the Cruyff Foundation, as it was in Hewett’s days as a junior player, Luna Gryp and Alex Lantermann edged out Ksenia Chasteau and Ilian Saidi 6-1 3-6 (11-9) to earn Belgium’s victory over France. Meanwhile, Ruben Harris and Joshua Johns held on to beat Dutch duo Xavier Donker and Ivar van Rijt 4-6 6-1 (10-4) to set up fascinating last day of round-robin ties.

USA ensured their place at the top of Pool A after a 3-0 win over 2022 junior champions Australia.

Discover all the results from Day 2 here.