Alfie Hewett

Alfie Hewett[1] OBE (born 6 December 1997) is a British professional wheelchair tennis player. He is the former world No. 1 in singles and current world No. 1 in doubles.

Alfie Hewett
OBE
Country (sports) Great Britain
ResidenceCantley, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Born (1997-12-06) 6 December 1997
Norwich, England, United Kingdom
Height1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Turned pro2015
PlaysRight-handed
Singles
Highest rankingNo. 1 (29 January 2018)
Current rankingNo. 2 (12 June 2023)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenW (2023)
French OpenW (2017, 2020, 2021)
WimbledonF (2022, 2023)
US OpenW (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
Other tournaments
MastersW (2017, 2021, 2023)
Paralympic Games Silver Medal (2016)
Doubles
Highest rankingNo. 1 (3 February 2020)
Current rankingNo. 1 (12 June 2023)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian OpenW (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
French OpenW (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
WimbledonW (2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2023)
US OpenW (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
Other doubles tournaments
Masters DoublesW (2017, 2021, 2023)
Paralympic Games Silver Medal (2016, 2020)
Last updated on: 30 January 2022.

Hewett is a 27-time major champion, having won eight titles in singles and 19 in doubles, the latter all partnering Gordon Reid. The pair completed the Grand Slam in 2021, becoming the first to do so in wheelchair men's doubles since Stéphane Houdet in 2014. Hewett is also a three-time Paralympic silver medalist, and won the Wheelchair Tennis Masters in both singles and doubles in 2017, 2021 and 2023.

Hewett was born with a congenital heart defect that required surgery at six months, and also suffered from Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease, a condition that inhibits blood flow from the pelvis to the hip joint. His ability to walk has been severely impaired and he has been using a wheelchair since being six years old. Though able to walk, Hewett is not fully mobile in the conventional sense and cannot do able-bodied sports.[2]

Tennis career

Hewett attended Acle High School[3] and went on to study Sport and Exercise Science at City College Norwich.[4]

In July 2016 Hewett won the 2016 Wimbledon Championships – Wheelchair men's doubles, alongside Gordon Reid, coming back from a set down to win against the French pair Stéphane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer.[5]

He won a silver medal in the men's singles event at Rio 2016 and silver in the doubles event with Reid, who beat him in the singles final.

In May 2017 Hewett won his first Grand Slam in singles at the French Open, beating Gustavo Fernández of Argentina in three sets, despite losing the first to love.

In July 2017, in a repeat of the final a year earlier, Hewett won the 2017 Wimbledon Championships – Wheelchair men's doubles, alongside Reid, winning in three sets against Houdet and Peifer.

Hewett won the 2017 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters in Loughborough, UK. He ended 2017 ranked No 2 in the world, then a career-high.

On 29 January 2018 Hewett became the world number 1.[6]

In March 2018 Hewett won his first Super Series singles title at the Cajun Classic in Baton Rouge, USA.

On 2 September 2018 he claimed his second Super Series title at the US Open USTA Wheelchair Championships in St. Louis. Later that month Hewett won the singles title at the US Open as well as the doubles title with Reid.

In September 2019 he successfully defended both his singles and, with Reid, doubles titles at the US Open.[7]

In 2020 Hewett won the French Open singles title in three sets against Joachim Gérard and partnered Reid to win all three available Grand Slam doubles titles at the Australian Open, US Open and French Open, with the Wimbledon Championships cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8][9]

After winning a silver medal in the men's doubles with Reid at the 2020 Summer Paralympics[10] and losing the bronze medal singles match to Reid, world number 2[10] Hewett spoke about his Paralympic future being "out of his hands",[10] due to a review into whether his disability is severe enough to qualify him to play in a wheelchair under the 2019 revision of International Tennis Federation rules.[10] Hewett was allowed to continue his tennis career after an alteration to the new ITF rules in November 2021.[11]

Hewett was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to tennis.[12]

Hewett kicked off 2024 by winning a fifth Australian Open doubles title in a row with Reid.[13] In May 2024 Hewett was part of the Great Britain team which won the World Team Cup for a second successive year beating Spain 2-0 in the final of the event held in Turkey. It was the team's fourth win in the competition since 2015.[14]

Hewett and Reid won a fifth straight French Open in June with a 6-1 6-4 victory over second-seeded Japanese duo Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in the final.[15]

Career statistics

Grand Slam performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Wheelchair singles

Tournament201620172018201920202021202220232024SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A QF QF QF SF F F W F 1 / 7 9–6 60%
French Open A W QF SF W W SF F 3 / 7 14–4 78%
Wimbledon QF SF SF QF NH QF F F 0 / 7 6–7 46%
US Open NH F W W F F W W 4 / 7 20–3 87%
Win–loss 0–1 6–3 4–3 4–3 6–2 7–3 9–3 13–2 8 / 28 49–20 71%

Wheelchair doubles

Tournament2015201620172018201920202021202220232024SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A F F SF W W W W W 5 / 8 11–3 79%
French Open A A F SF SF W W W W W 5 / 8 13–3 77%
Wimbledon SF W W W F NH W F W 5 / 8 12–3 80%
US Open A NH W W W W W F[upper-alpha 1] SF 5 / 7 12-1 86%
Win–loss 0–1 2–0 6–2 5–2 3–3 6–0 8–0 6–2 9–1 20 / 31 45–10 82%
  1. Hewett received a walkover in the quarterfinals of the 2022 US Open, which does not count as a win.
Wheelchair singles: 17 (8 titles, 9 runner-ups)
Result Year Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win2017French OpenClay Gustavo Fernández0–6, 7–6(11–9), 6–2
Loss2017US OpenHard Stéphane Houdet2–6, 6–4, 3–6
Win2018US OpenHard Shingo Kunieda6–3, 7–5
Win2019US Open (2)Hard Stéphane Houdet7–6(11–9), 7–6(7–5)
Loss2020US OpenHard Shingo Kunieda3–6, 6–3, 6–7(3–7)
Win2020French Open (2)Clay Joachim Gérard6–4, 4–6, 6–3
Loss2021Australian OpenHard Joachim Gérard0–6, 6–4, 4–6
Win2021French Open (3)Clay Shingo Kunieda6–3, 6–4
Loss2021US OpenHard Shingo Kunieda1–6, 4–6
Loss2022Australian OpenHard Shingo Kunieda5–7, 6–3, 2–6
Loss2022WimbledonGrass Shingo Kunieda6–4, 5–7, 6–7(5–10)
Win2022US Open (3)Hard Shingo Kunieda7–6(7–2), 6–1
Win2023Australian OpenHard Tokito Oda6–3, 6–1
Loss2023French OpenClay Tokito Oda1–6, 4–6
Loss2023WimbledonGrass Tokito Oda4–6, 2–6
Win2023US Open (4)Hard Gordon Reid6–4, 6–3
Loss2024Australian OpenHard Tokito Oda2–6, 4–6
Wheelchair doubles: 25 (19 titles, 6 runner-ups)
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win2016WimbledonGrass Gordon Reid Stéphane Houdet
Nicolas Peifer
4–6, 6–1, 7–6(8–6)
Loss2017Australian OpenHard Gustavo Fernández Joachim Gérard
Gordon Reid
3–6, 6–3, [3–10]
Loss2017French OpenClay Gordon Reid Stéphane Houdet
Nicolas Peifer
4–6, 3–6
Win2017Wimbledon (2)Grass Gordon Reid Stéphane Houdet
Nicolas Peifer
6–7(5–7), 7–5, 7–6(7–3)
Win2017US OpenHard Gordon Reid Stéphane Houdet
Nicolas Peifer
7–5, 6–4
Loss2018Australian OpenHard Gordon Reid Stéphane Houdet
Nicolas Peifer
4–6, 2–6
Win2018Wimbledon (3)Grass Gordon Reid Joachim Gérard
Stefan Olsson
6–1, 6–4
Win2018US Open (2)Hard Gordon Reid Stéphane Houdet
Nicolas Peifer
5–7, 6–3, [11–9]
Loss2019WimbledonGrass Gordon Reid Joachim Gérard
Stefan Olsson
4–6, 2–6
Win2019US Open (3)Hard Gordon Reid Gustavo Fernández
Shingo Kunieda
1–6, 6–4, [11–9]
Win2020Australian OpenHard Gordon Reid Stéphane Houdet
Nicolas Peifer
4–6, 6–4, [10–7]
Win2020US Open (4)Hard Gordon Reid Stéphane Houdet
Nicolas Peifer
6–4, 6–1
Win2020French OpenClay Gordon Reid Gustavo Fernández
Shingo Kunieda
7–6(7–4), 1–6, [10–3]
Win2021Australian Open (2)Hard Gordon Reid Stéphane Houdet
Nicolas Peifer
7–5, 7–6(7–3)
Win2021French Open (2)Clay Gordon Reid Stéphane Houdet
Nicolas Peifer
6-3, 6-0
Win2021Wimbledon (4)Grass Gordon Reid Tom Egberink
Joachim Gerard
7–5, 6–2
Win2021US Open (5)Hard Gordon Reid Gustavo Fernández
Shingo Kunieda
6-2, 6–1
Win2022Australian Open (3)Hard Gordon Reid Gustavo Fernández
Shingo Kunieda
6–2, 4–6, [10–7]
Win2022French Open (3)Clay Gordon Reid Gustavo Fernández
Shingo Kunieda
7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–5)
Loss2022WimbledonGrass Gordon Reid Gustavo Fernández
Shingo Kunieda
3–6, 1–6
Loss2022US OpenHard Gordon Reid Martín de la Puente
Nicolas Peifer
6–4, 5–7, [6–10]
Win2023Australian Open (4)Hard Gordon Reid Maikel Scheffers
Ruben Spaargaren
6–1, 6–2
Win2023French Open (4)Clay Gordon Reid Martín de la Puente
Gustavo Fernández
7–6(11–9), 7–5
Win2023Wimbledon (5)Grass Gordon Reid Takuya Miki
Tokito Oda
3–6, 6–0, 6–3
Win2024Australian Open (5)Hard Gordon Reid Takuya Miki
Tokito Oda
6–3, 6–2

References

  1. "King's Birthday Honours: Sarah Hunter and Ian Wright among those included". BBC Sport. 17 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  2. "Alfie Hewett: 'My sport is being snatched from me. It's not fair'". iNews. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  3. Armstrong, Mark. "Norfolk tennis ace Alfie Hewett is making a career of fighting against the odds after Roland Garros victory". Great Yarmouth Mercury. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  4. George, Martin. "Paralympic star Alfie Hewett among students honoured at City College Norwich further education awards". Eastern Daily Press. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  5. Freezer, David. "Family's joy as Norwich tennis ace Alfie Hewett is crowned Wimbledon champion". Eastern Daily Press. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  6. "Amazing news that @alfiehewett6 has become the World No.1!". LTA via Twitter. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  7. "US Open 2019: Alfie Hewett and Andy Lapthorne win singles & doubles titles". BBC. 9 September 2019. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  8. "French Open 2020: Britain's Alfie Hewett completes double by winning singles title". BBC. 10 October 2020. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  9. "Cancellation of The Championships 2020". Wimbledon. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  10. McElwee, Molly; Gareth A Davies; Sarah Rendell (3 September 2021). "Day 10: Alfie Hewett facing end of Paralympic career — due to being deemed not disabled enough". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  11. "Britain's Alfie Hewett cleared to continue in wheelchair tennis". ESPN. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  12. "No. 64082". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2023. p. B13.
  13. "Australian Open 2024 results: Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid and Andy Lapthorne win titles". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  14. "Reid & Hewett help GB defend World Team Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  15. "Hewett & Reid win fifth French Open doubles title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
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