Hewett completes Rotterdam hat-trick as Houdet and Peifer make it four
Alfie Hewett claimed his second men’s singles title on the 2022 UNIQLO Wheelchair Tennis as the world No.2 became the first three-time champion at the ABN AMRO World Wheelchair Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
Hewett produced his best all-round performance of the week to beat world No.3 Gustavo Fernandez 6-3 6-1 and remain unbeaten at the ITF 1 Series event since 2020.
As wheelchair tennis made its 14th appearance alongside the ATP 500 tournament, much of the early focus centred on world No. 9 Tokito Oda as the Japanese 15-year-old became the latest player to make his Rotterdam debut among the field of 12 players.
And it was a debut that enabled Oda to add Frenchman Nicolas Peifer to the list of top 10 players he has beaten in the last nine months as the teenager booked his place in the quarter-finals 7-5 6-3.
Cue a first ever meeting between Oda and Hewett, a contest that promised much after Oda took world No. 1 Shingo Kunieda to two tie-break sets recently in Australia. However, on the day Hewett’s experience and consistency in Rotterdam proved key as the 24-year-old, arguably the last teenager to have as big a reputation as Oda, booked his semi-final berth 6-2 6-4.
Not even Hewett was approaching a top 10 senior world ranking at the age of 15 and with Oda currently secure at No. 9 he is aware that it is a only matter of time before he gets a shot at a Grand Slam debut. He hopes that time will be sooner rather than later.
“I want to go to the Grand Slams, I think the French (Roland Garros) this year, so I have to keep going. I need one more big win in the next match and I have to have more wins against the big players,” said Oda ahead of playing Hewett.
Oda is not the only men’s wheelchair player to have made a recent top 10 ranking debut, Daniel Caverzaschi and Martin de la Puente both becoming the first Spaniards to achieve the feat since November and De la Puente arriving in Rotterdam boosted by his new career-best.
However, it was Caverzaschi who came out on top when the countrymen met in the Rotterdam quarter-finals, winning an entertaining encounter 6-3 6-7(3) 7-5.
By comparison, the quarter-finals resulted in relatively straight forward wins for Stephane Houdet, Fernandez and Tom Egberink, meaning that the semi-finals would feature three of the six players who had previously won the Rotterdam title twice – Hewett, Houdet and Fernandez.
Despite beating Oda in straight sets Hewett was not entirely happy with his game and he again took time to find his form against Houdet before winning 12 of the 14 games for a 4-6 6-1 6-2 victory.
It’s almost eight years since Tokyo singles silver medallist Egberink beat Fernandez in singles competition but the Dutchman put himself in a position to break that drought when earning a two-game cushion in the third set of their semi-final and he subsequently saved three match points to maintain his challenge. However, Fernandez ultimately put away a backhand winner at the fourth time of asking to line up his first final against Hewett in Rotterdam.
The title decider saw Hewett raise his level from his previous two outings, earning an immediate break of serve and maintaining his advantage to lead by a set and 3-0.
With the momentum heavily in his favour there was no let up from the defending champion, who won seven of eight points to make it 5-1 in the second set, a perfectly placed lob in the fifth game demonstrating his ever-growing confidence before finally closing out the match for his third Rotterdam title in a row.
“I’m so pleased with the quality on show for today’s match and grateful for the opportunity to stage our sport at such a prestigious event as this,” said Hewett.
While Hewett now has three men’s singles titles in Rotterdam and British players have won the men’s singles title five time in seven years following Gordon Reid’s back-to-back victories in 2016 and 2017, the men’s doubles title is once again back in French hands after Houdet and Peifer claimed the title for fourth time since 2016.
Belgians Joachim Gerard and Jef Vandorpe produced the early headlines, turning their fortunes round in dramatic fashion to beat Caverzaschi and Oda 0-6 6-4 (10-7) in the quarter-finals.
It was a second-set loss to love that made De la Puente and Fernandez’s semi-final win all the more remarkable in another deciding match tie-break in the semi-finals as the second seeds outlasted home favourites Egberink and Scheffers. However, De la Puente and Fernandez proved no match for two-time Paralympic champions Houdet and Peifer, who won all the important exchanges to wrap up the title 6-2 6-0.