France’s Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer became the first men’s doubles pair in history to defend their Paralympic title, defeating Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid of Great Britain by the narrowest of margins 7-5 0-6 7-6(3) to claim gold in a repeat of the Rio 2016 final result.

The second seeds hit back from 3-0 down in the final set following a nine-game surge from the British duo to clinch a marathon gold medal match, a contest laden with brilliant shot-making from all four players under the Centre Court roof at Ariake Tennis Park.

Asked where the match ranked in his career, Houdet said: “I think that’s the best one. Seven-six in the third set, it couldn’t be closer. Rio was three set, but this one was intense until the last point – and then you have to go for a challenge to make sure you won.

“So for me, it was the best tennis ever. We played against the Brits for three and a half hours. We’ve had long matches in doubles, but for me, the intensity of the match, the way we played, the quality of the game – for now, for me, it’s the best match ever.”

Hewett and Reid, the top seeds in Tokyo and winners of the past seven Grand Slam doubles titles, were briefly two points from victory at 4-5 in the decider and broke back at 6-5 to keep the match alive, but were finally undone in the tiebreak, falling to defeat after three hours, 25 minutes of high drama.

It is just the second win Houdet and Peifer have posted against Hewett and Reid in their past 10 meetings – putting them 17-16 ahead in a head-to-head rivalry the French duo once dominated – sealed when Houdet pummelled one last inside-out forehand onto the tramline, confirmed by HawkEye following one final challenge.

“I’m heartbroken. It's probably the toughest loss of my career,” said Reid. “We came in here in such good form. We let ourselves down a little bit in the first set, we played the occasion and not the match.

“But we recovered really well, we played such a strong nine games in a row, we were unstoppable. Then the French guys came back. We played to win until the end and the points didn’t come our way.

“It's the same team, the same situation, precise loss. We’re a better team now, and they maybe played the bigger moments better than us.”

From the midpoint of the second set to the first three games of the third, the match seemed to be there for the taking for the top seeds, as Houdet and Peifer’s communication broke down.

“There was a divorce,” Houdet explained. “With all of the tension, we got angry and we separated until 5-0 in the second set. Then there were new balls and we said to each other that we needed big serves to get back our intensity, which was our watchword of the week.

“From there, even though we lost the game, we could see that we were dominating them and that we would have plenty of opportunities if we attacked them. We became a team again, start the third set well, and even when we were down 3-0, we persisted.”

“I felt like I got back my concentration after the second set,” added Peifer, who played his best tennis of the match in the decider. “The third set, I switched into a different mode in my head, and I think that’s what allowed us to get back on top and win the match.”

Victory earns Peifer his third Paralympic medal – as well as his Rio 2016 triumph with Houdet, he won doubles silver with Frederic Cattaneo at London 2012 – while Houdet claims his fifth. The 50-year-old has been involved in all three French Paralympic wheelchair tennis golds, all in men’s doubles, having won the title with Michael Jeremiasz at Beijing 2008, along with doubles bronze and singles silver won in London.

For Hewett and Reid, their Paralympic campaign goes on – the Britons will face off in the men’s singles bronze medal match on Saturday.

Scheffers and Egberink ensure Dutch reach every podium at Tokyo 2020

Dutch duo Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers ensured that the Netherlands will claim a place on every Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis podium at Tokyo 2020 with victory in the men’s doubles bronze medal match, defeating Japan’s Shingo Kunieda and Takashi Sanada 6-3 6-2.

The medal is the second won at the Paralympics for 38-year-old Scheffers, who won singles bronze at Beijing 2008, while Egberink is guaranteed a second medal from the Tokyo 2020 singles final, where he faces Kunieda once more.

“I think I played some good points with him, some good rallies,” said Egberink, who believes he gained some knowledge ahead of Saturday’s singles final, as well as his first Paralympic medal.

“I know what to do tomorrow. I have to play my own game for sure and then got some tactics to think about and maybe watch a bit back from this match to use tomorrow in singles.

“We played so well as a team today. We moved them all around the court so Shingo didn’t have time to put pressure on us. And not only to Shingo – we were everywhere. I learned a lot, but I was totally focused on doubles today.”

Kunieda and Sanada made a fine start to the match, opening up a 3-1 lead in the first set before the Dutch pair really found their rhythm – particularly Scheffers, who hadn’t played a competitive match in two days.

But once their tactics began to click – Scheffers forcing their opponents to hit to Egberink’s monster forehand before going to the net for the kill – the momentum swung decidedly in the Dutchmen’s favour. And with medals secured in both quad events and now the men’s doubles, with Dutch interest in the three remaining gold medal matches, Ariake Tennis Park has proven to be something of a medal factory for the team in orange.

Having claimed his second Paralympic medal 13 years after his first, Scheffers insisted he was ruling nothing out when the prospect of Paris 2024 was put to him.

“I still love the game, and I’m not going to quit,” he said. “I’m still continuing to play. We have a lot to win together as well. We have a lot of goals, still, and a lot of new goals we can set.

“But first we’re going to enjoy the moment and focus on helping Tom where I can on his singles. And then I think it’s time for a holiday together. We had a promise that if we were winning a medal, I was buying him a holiday.”

“Where are we going – maybe Sint Maarten?” Egberink suggested with a laugh. From bronze to bronzed.