He is a colossus of the wheelchair tennis world and given the scale of his accomplishments during a glory-filled and silverware-laden career, it is barely believable that Shingo Kunieda’s reputation could be enhanced further.

However, with a single thrust of that right hand, Kunieda achieved a status never seen before and the ramifications of claiming his first men’s wheelchair singles title at Wimbledon are far-reaching and, in truth, beyond comprehension.

By defeating Alfie Hewett 4-6 7-5 7-6(5) in an unpredictable and error-strewn encounter – there were 26 breaks of serve during the clash – Kunieda claimed a string of impressive and career-defining records.

After conquering all before him at SW19, Kunieda became the first player to complete a career Grand Slam and indeed a career Golden Slam in men’s wheelchair singles. It was also the 50th time he has topped a Grand Slam podium across singles and doubles.

“This was a very special moment and my most special moment since Tokyo 2020,” Kunieda told itftennis.com. “Tokyo was the biggest highlight of my career, and this was almost the same.

“I really wanted to get this title. At my age, I’m 38, I was thinking this might be my last chance today, so I am very happy. This is certainly my best Grand Slam title, certainly the hardest to win because of the grass.

“I have a good clay-court record but in the past, I didn’t play well on grass. However, this year I found a way to play on grass and maybe now I can say that I can play well on grass.”

Hewett had his chances and served for the match on four occasions. Kunieda, however, refused to buckle and worked his way back into the ascendency in the match tiebreak, converting the first of four match points.

“Mentality is my weapon, my biggest weapon,” said Kunieda. “If I had a tough situation today, I refused to give up and just kept saying to myself, ‘I can do it’. That’s the only way to do it. I knew I had to think that way.”

Kunieda also revealed that he sought out and received advice from a someone who knows all about winning on grass, eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer whose words clearly contained nuggets of wisdom.

“Last year here, I lost in the first round to Gordon (Reid),” He added. “Then, we had a UNIQLO event and I asked a question to Roger. My question was how to play on grass and how to think when behind on grass.

“Roger said that I should attack every point and that if I made a mistake, have no regrets. He said that’s the key, to have no regrets. Today, when I made a mistake I said, ‘this is okay’. Then I immediately went to the next point and was aggressive. That was key.”

In the women’s doubles, meanwhile, there was a huge upset as Yui Kamiji and Dana Mathewson overpowered top seeds Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot 6-1 7-5.

For Mathewson, this was her his Grand Slam title and came five years after her only previous appearance in a Grand Slam final. It also marked a remarkable doubles debut with Kamiiji as her partner, with the 28-year-old now having seven Wimbledon doubles crowns.