World number one Gustavo Fernandez battled back to deny wheelchair tennis star Alfie Hewett a place in his first Wimbledon singles final – but the Norfolk star will play in the doubles final on the world’s biggest stage .
The Norwich-born 19-year-old took the first set 6-4 after bouncing back from a break of serve in the first game but the Argentinian rallied and the second set went to a tie-break, which the second seed won 7-4 to take the semi-final to a deciding set.
The 23-year-old then raced into a 5-1 lead in the third set but Hewett showed some fight to bring it back to 5-3, before Fernandez wrapped up the win, serving to win the final set 6-3.
Fernandez will face Stefan Olsson of Sweden in Sunday’s final, who beat Shingo Kunieda 6-4 6-2 in the other semi-final having disposed of British number one Gordon Reid in the quarter-finals.
Hewett was back in action in the doubles later this afternoon, alongside Reid, taking on Fernandez and Kunieda in the semi-finals – and the outcome was much better.
The Hewett-Reid combination came through in three sets – 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 – and will today face Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer, who they beat in last year’s Wimbledon final. The French pair beat Olsson and Maikel Schaffers in the first semi-final 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
However, their rivals have exacted revenge for that defeat with no less than seven wins in eight matches against Hewett and Reid since then – including the Paralympic and French Open finals.
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