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Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Hewett criticises late court changes at French Open
Alfie Hewett says he is "extremely disappointed" with French Open organisers after his wheelchair singles final was moved to a different court less than an hour before the start "without really consulting the players". The Norfolk player's match against Tokito Oda on Saturday, which he lost 6-4 7-6 (8-6), was switched from Court 14 to being straight after the women's wheelchair final on Suzanne Lenglen. Advertisement They were only given about 35 minutes to prepare after being informed of the change at just past midday. "I understand the reasoning behind it because of the changeable weather this week but I think they could have communicated that the night before - like given us a heads-up and said 'if this quads match goes on longer than the women's final then you boys will be on Lenglen, if it doesn't happen then you will stay on Court 14'," he said. "None of that communication was had the night before, or even in the morning." The BBC have approached Roland Garros and the International Tennis Federation for comment. Advertisement As the wheelchair draw progressed there was a lot of discussion around the scheduling and last-minute changes, with different courts offering varied conditions for the players. "It's a completely different environment," said Hewett, who won his sixth consecutive Roland Garros doubles title with partner and fellow Brit Gordon Reid, and who - by also finishing with runners-up honours in the singles - improved on his 2024 performance at Roland Garros. "Gordy [Gordon Reid] was saying it when we were playing doubles. The ball was slower, the balls pick up more clay because there is more clay on those courts. "On the outdoor courts it's slightly livelier, it's slightly bouncier, there's shorter back runs. It completely changes the tactical game of the match and usually you know that you're going to be playing on a show court, so you practice on that court beforehand." Advertisement As elite-level athletes who are competing for the top prizes in tennis, a lot of thought goes into pre-match preparations for the wheelchair players - not just at the Grand Slams but every week they compete on tour. "I'm not one to come out here and criticise tournaments often because I know we are as players, and I am, incredibly grateful to be at events like this, to be celebrating wheelchair tennis and showcasing it on a big stage but what happened today was unacceptable," said Hewett. "There are standards I believe that have got to be set and you know as players we weren't listened to, we weren't heard. "We tried to ask for the court to be pushed back, but unfortunately the priority was for fans to watch the women's final on a screen rather than giving the wheelchair players more time to warm-up and prepare for a Grand Slam singles final. Advertisement "This isn't me making excuses for my performance, Tokito was in exactly the same boat as me. I'm very happy with the way I performed actually. "This is more about the players and our welfare, and actually treating us like professionals, because I can guarantee there's no way Jannik Sinner or [Novak] Djokovic would get told 'sorry you can't have a proper practice, you've got to go on court in 30 minutes'." He added: "You put everything on the line for these matches. It's not the reason why I lost the singles final - Tokito was the better player in the bigger moments - but these are the things that people higher up have got to take into consideration - and which I know they are taking into consideration with the other players. "They didn't take that into consideration with us and I feel really disappointed in that."
BBC News
08-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Hewett criticises late court changes at French Open
Alfie Hewett says he is "extremely disappointed" with French Open organisers after his wheelchair singles final was moved to a different court less than an hour before the start "without really consulting the players".The Norfolk player's match against Tokito Oda on Saturday, which he lost 6-4 7-6 (8-6), was switched from Court 14 to being straight after the women's wheelchair final on Suzanne Lenglen. They were only given about 35 minutes to prepare after being informed of the change at just past midday."I understand the reasoning behind it because of the changeable weather this week but I think they could have communicated that the night before - like given us a heads-up and said 'if this quads match goes on longer than the women's final then you boys will be on Lenglen, if it doesn't happen then you will stay on Court 14'," he said. "None of that communication was had the night before, or even in the morning."The BBC have approached Roland Garros and the International Tennis Federation for comment. As the wheelchair draw progressed there was a lot of discussion around the scheduling and last-minute changes, with different courts offering varied conditions for the players."It's a completely different environment," said Hewett, who won his sixth consecutive Roland Garros doubles title with partner and fellow Brit Gordon Reid, and who - by also finishing with runners-up honours in the singles - improved on his 2024 performance at Roland Garros."Gordy [Gordon Reid] was saying it when we were playing doubles. The ball was slower, the balls pick up more clay because there is more clay on those courts."On the outdoor courts it's slightly livelier, it's slightly bouncier, there's shorter back runs. It completely changes the tactical game of the match and usually you know that you're going to be playing on a show court, so you practice on that court beforehand."As elite-level athletes who are competing for the top prizes in tennis, a lot of thought goes into pre-match preparations for the wheelchair players - not just at the Grand Slams but every week they compete on tour."I'm not one to come out here and criticise tournaments often because I know we are as players, and I am, incredibly grateful to be at events like this, to be celebrating wheelchair tennis and showcasing it on a big stage but what happened today was unacceptable," said Hewett."There are standards I believe that have got to be set and you know as players we weren't listened to, we weren't heard. "We tried to ask for the court to be pushed back, but unfortunately the priority was for fans to watch the women's final on a screen rather than giving the wheelchair players more time to warm-up and prepare for a Grand Slam singles final."This isn't me making excuses for my performance, Tokito was in exactly the same boat as me. I'm very happy with the way I performed actually. "This is more about the players and our welfare, and actually treating us like professionals, because I can guarantee there's no way Jannik Sinner or [Novak] Djokovic would get told 'sorry you can't have a proper practice, you've got to go on court in 30 minutes'."He added: "You put everything on the line for these matches. It's not the reason why I lost the singles final - Tokito was the better player in the bigger moments - but these are the things that people higher up have got to take into consideration - and which I know they are taking into consideration with the other players."They didn't take that into consideration with us and I feel really disappointed in that."
BBC News
07-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Hewett and Reid claim sixth-straight French Open title
French Open 2025Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland GarrosCoverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app Alfie Hewett fought back from heartbreak in the men's wheelchair singles final to clinch a sixth successive French Open doubles title with partner Gordon British top seeds claimed a 6-4 1-6 10-7 victory over Japan's Tokito Oda and France's Stephane came after Hewett lost 6-4 7-6 (8-6) to world number one Oda in the singles showpiece."It never gets dull winning these trophies," said 27-year-old five-time defending champions came out of the blocks strong to take a commanding opening Oda and Houdet, playing their first doubles tournament together, found three breaks to force a deciding match was concern as Scotland's Reid needed a three-minute medical timeout at 3-1 down in the second to address a cut on the side of his right an inspired performance followed from the Britons, who won six points on the bounce to fight back from 4-7 down in the 10-point match was Hewett who completely overpowered Oda in a cross-court forehand rally to seal victory at 10-7 and protect the pair's record in Paris."Alfie did an amazing job to come back from his match earlier and produce a performance like that," Reid said."It's always a pleasure to have him on my side of the net." Englishman Hewett had earlier lost a fourth major singles final against the talented Japanese teenager Oda. Hewett, who last won the French Open in 2021, was broken twice in the opening set to trail 4-1 but battled back to level at 4-4 before eventually succumbing to also took control early in the second, breaking in the third game to lead 3-1 and he had the chance to serve-out the match at Hewett - looking to add an 11th Grand Slam title to his CV after winning the Australian Open in January - refused to accept defeat and a break back led to a chaotic conclusion on Court pair exchanged breaks to ensure a tie-break, which was subsequently won by is the third player to win the men's wheelchair singles title on three or more occasions at the French Open after compatriot Shingo Kunieda (8) and Hewett (3).
BBC News
06-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Britain's Hewett reaches wheelchair singles final
French Open 2025Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland GarrosCoverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app Great Britain's Alfie Hewett beat Gustavo Fernandez 4-6 6-4 6-7 (12-10) to reach the French Open wheelchair singles seed Hewett had not dropped a set in his first two matches but had to come from behind to get beyond Argentina's Fernandez in two hours and 46 is a 10-time Grand Slam singles champion and has won the French Open title three 27-year-old faces world number one Tokito Oda in the final after the Japanese star beat Martin De La Puente 6-4 was also due to play alongside fellow Briton Gordon Reid in the men's wheelchair doubles final on Friday but that match has been moved to British duo - who are five-time defending champions in Paris - will face Oda and France's Stephane Houdet for the title.
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Hewett and Reid into sixth-straight French Open final
British pair Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett reached the final of the French Open men's wheelchair doubles for the sixth straight top seeds beat Casey Ratzlaff of the USA and Japan's Takuya Miki 6-2 6-3 amid increasingly heavy rain at Roland ace from Reid sealed victory in Paris on the pair's second match will play either Tokito Oda of Japan and France's Stephane Houdet or the duo of Spaniard Daniel Caverzaschi and Argentine Gustavo Fernandez in the Reid and Engand's Hewett have won the past five titles at Roland claimed victory in an hour and 14 minutes amid a sea of umbrellas on court 12, with all the other outdoor courts being covered to protect against the rain. Following a first set which saw six breaks of serve - four of them by the British team - the second was much more straightforward for the perennial champions, in spite of the capped a slightly odd day for Reid and Hewett, which they started as opponents in the singles the second seed, triumphed 6-2 6-4. He will play fourth seed Fernandez in the singles Britain's Andy Lapthorne suffered double elimination in men's quad wheelchair events on Englishman's day started with a 6-4 6-4 defeat in the singles semi-final to top seed Niels Vink of the then suffered another last-four loss in the doubles as, along with Dutch partner Sam Schroder, he was beaten in the match tie-break by Ahmet Kaplan of Turkey and South Africa's Donald Ramphadi, losing 6-3 2-6 and Schroder, the second seeds, fought back from losing the first set by winning the second in 35 minutes, and were ahead in the first-to-10 shootout decider before suffering defeat against their unseeded opponents.
