Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid Reach US Open Final with Stunning Comeback

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid dug themselves out of trouble in New York to book yet another US Open final – and this one carried a little extra bite.

Beaten by Gustavo Fernandez and Tokito Oda in last year’s championship match, the British pair walked back into Arthur Ashe’s shadows with that defeat still lingering. They walked out with revenge. From a set down, they turned the semi-final on its head to win 4-6 6-3 10-7 and reach the men’s wheelchair doubles final once more.

The opening set went the way of the defending champions. Fernandez’s heavy ball and Oda’s court coverage kept Hewett and Reid under pressure, the Britons just a fraction off on the big points. One break was enough. The scoreboard read 6-4 and the pattern looked ominously familiar.

Then the response came.

Reid tightened on serve, Hewett began to dictate the exchanges, and the British team wrestled control of the second set. They broke at the key moment, rode out a couple of tense service games and levelled the match 6-3, dragging the contest into a deciding match tie-break.

The decider crackled. Mini-breaks traded, momentum swinging with almost every point. At 7-7, the tension was obvious; this was the territory where last year’s final had slipped away. This time Hewett and Reid held their nerve, reeling off the final three points to complete the turnaround and keep their title charge alive.

The win keeps them on course for a sixth US Open doubles crown together, adding to the five they lifted in an unbroken run between 2017 and 2021. Standing between them and another piece of history will be Spain’s Martin de la Puente and Ruben Spaargaren of the Netherlands in the final.

It was a day of mixed fortunes for Reid. Earlier on Thursday he had run into the full force of top seed and defending singles champion Oda, losing 6-1 6-0 in a one-sided quarter-final. Oda underlined exactly why he sits at the top of the rankings, barely giving the Briton a look-in.

Hewett’s singles campaign, though, continues to gather pace. Seeded second, the 28-year-old brushed aside American Casey Ratzlaff 6-2 6-0 to move into the last four. Already a four-time singles champion in New York, most recently in 2023, he again looks ominously comfortable on these courts.

There was disappointment elsewhere for British interest in the draw. Andy Lapthorne, partnering South Africa’s Leon Els in the quad doubles, saw their run ended in another tight match tie-break. They fell 4-6 6-3 10-8 to second seeds Sam Schroder of the Netherlands and Jin Woodman of Australia, edged out after making the ideal start.

For Hewett and Reid, though, the script is still being written. Another US Open final, another shot at a title, and this time with the ghosts of last year finally pushed to the back of the court.