While Norfolk tennis star Alfie Hewett chose to prioritise sleep ahead of his 11th Wimbledon Championships, he couldn’t resist a sneak peek at the score.
“My body woke me up around 2am, funnily enough” said Hewett. “But sleep is the priority with the first round of matches tomorrow.
“It’s great news that they’re through and I’ve seen some highlights this morning – quite the game by the looks of things.”
It is business as usual for Hewett at Wimbledon, who will hope to draw inspiration from England’s exhilarating win. The 28-year-old, seeded second, faces Dutchman Tom Egberink in the first round of the men’s wheelchair singles on Tuesday.
Coincidentally, Hewett was also drawn against the same opponent in the men’s wheelchair doubles – together with long-time partner and fellow Brit Gordon Reid, he will take on Egberink and Maarten Ter Hofte.
It is doubles in which Hewett has seen the most success as of late – the British duo arrive at the All England Club as back-to-back Lexus British Open Roehampton winners, 24-time Grand Slam champions, and the current world No. 1 pairing.
And Wimbledon preparation couldn’t have gone much better for the pair, who fought back from 7-2 down in the match tie-break to defeat the reigning Wimbledon champions in the Roehampton final on Friday.
“It was a good win in the doubles,” Hewett reflected. “Tight one in the match tie-break – 11-9. It’s good for us to have those challenges and face a bit of adversity and get through it successfully. That will definitely help us from a mental perspective.
“But it’s a new week and anything can happen. It doesn’t matter how well you play the week before. It’s all about the present, and the here and now.”
On the singles side, it would be unfair to say that Hewett has not been at his best – he is the No. 2 player in the world, after all.
But there is no hiding from the fact that the world No. 1, Japan’s Tokito Oda, has dominated Grand Slam singles events in recent times, winning eight of the last 11 majors.
Hewett lost their most recent match-up, 6-3, 6-1, in the Lexus British Open final on Friday. And the 2024 Wimbledon men’s wheelchair singles champion is out for revenge.
“There were some really good things that I did in most of my matches last week,” said Hewett. “The final scoreline doesn’t seem like it was a good one, but I was quite happy with my level.
“I was just beaten by the better player on the day, and there’s not much more you can do sometimes than just hold your hands up and say, ‘too good.’
“There’s a big fire for sure. We’ve got a great rivalry going on, but there are a lot of good players I need to beat if I want a taste of that.”
For the latest updates on the British summer grass court season, visit the LTA website, lta.org.uk.
