Alfie Hewett has given himself a shot at something rare in tennis — winning both the singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon in the same year. The British wheelchair tennis star won two matches on Thursday, reaching the semi-finals in both the men's wheelchair singles and the men's wheelchair doubles. Not many players can handle the physical and mental demands of competing in two tournaments at once, but Hewett is doing exactly that on tennis's biggest stage.
In the doubles semi-final, Hewett and his partner Gordon Reid found themselves in trouble early. They were broken twice in the first set against France's Stéphane Houdet and China's Ji Xiaohui, which meant their opponents had won their service games twice. But Hewett and Reid didn't panic. They stitched together four straight game wins to take the opener. The second set ran into an unusual delay — 13 minutes — because Houdet's wheelchair had a mechanical problem. Wheelchairs in professional wheelchair tennis are specially built for the sport and can develop issues mid-match. Once the chair was fixed, both teams got back to work, and Hewett and Reid stayed focused.
On Friday, Hewett will step onto Court One for a different challenge: the singles semi-final. He'll face Antoine Fernandez of France. This will be the second match of the day on that court, giving fans a full afternoon of tennis to look forward to. A win there would put Hewett one match away from the singles title.
While Hewett was celebrating, other British players faced tougher days. Andrew Penney lost his second-round singles match to Spain's Martin de la Puente in a lopsided 6-0, 6-1 score. Lucy Shuker and her South African partner Kgothatbo Montjane were beaten in the women's doubles semi-finals. Andy Lapthorne also fell short in the quad wheelchair doubles semi-finals, though he gets another chance on Friday when he faces Sam Schroder in the singles semi-final.
For Hewett, though, the momentum is very much with him. Reaching both semi-finals is an achievement most players in any sport would envy — the grueling schedule of playing multiple matches over consecutive days, each one requiring peak focus and fitness. But on the grass courts of Wimbledon, with British crowds behind him, Hewett is making the most of his moment. Friday could bring him one huge step closer to that elusive double.