| Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 16-29 January |
| Coverage: Commentary every day from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra ‘Tennis Breakfast’ live from Melbourne, with selected live text commentaries and match reports on the BBC Sport website & app |
Alfie Hewett says there was “a lot of baggage” behind his tears as he won his first Australian Open men’s wheelchair singles title against Tokita Oda.
Hewett lost the Melbourne final in 2021 and 2022 but beat his Japanese opponent 6-3 6-1 to add individual success to the fourth doubles title he secured alongside Gordon Reid on Friday.
It is the world number one’s seventh Grand Slam singles title.
“The history of losing the last couple of years haunted me,” the Briton said.
Hewett now only needs victory at Wimbledon to complete the career Grand Slam.
“It’s third time lucky,” the 16-time major doubles champion said.
“There was a lot of history and baggage behind that emotion at the end. I want to be able to say I’ve won everything and this is obviously something that was missing.
“With that comes a lot more pressure as when you’ve not got something, you want it so badly.”
The 25-year-old started slowly and was 3-1 down to his 16-year-old opponent before rattling off five straight games to take the first set.
He then repeated the sequence in the second set, sealing victory with an ace before sobbing with delight.
“I’d probably say it’s my biggest battle,” he said. “Knowing deep down you can win it, and having to just go again every year.
“I think it was literally the worst possible start, but once I’d got the first set under my belt, everything unlocked. The second set was probably one of my best ever at a Grand Slam.”
In the women’s wheelchair singles, Dutch world number one Diede de Groot also recovered from a difficult first set to win her fifth successive Australian Open title.
She beat Yui Kamiji 0-6 6-2 6-2 in one hour and 48 minutes.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at BBC Sport – Tennis…