Roland Garros 2025: Alfie Hewett finishes runner-up to Tokito Oda in men’s wheelchair singles final
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Alfie Hewett’s quest for a fourth French Open men’s wheelchair singles title ended in a disappointing defeat to world No.1 Tokito Oda.
British No.1 Hewett produced a magnificent effort against the Japanese star but unfortunately ended up on the losing side of a tight battle, missing out on the silverware in a 6-4, 7-6(6) defeat.
“Congratulations Tokito, thank you again for another amazing match on an arena like this”, Hewett said in his on-court interview.
“I want to say thank you to my team who are here this week and back at home cheering me on, supporting and I hope to see you next year.”
While it was defeat for the Brit, the victory marked a third consecutive French Open title for the 19-year-old from Japan, who has become a dominant force on the surface in recent years. Oda also beat Hewett during a tense gold medal match at the Paris Paralympic Games last summer.
The pair are set to face each other again later on today as Hewett and compatriot Gordon Reid face Oda and Frenchman Stephane Houdet in the men’s wheelchair doubles final.
Today’s final in Paris marked the second meeting in three years between the world No.1 and No.2 and it was guaranteed to be a blockbuster viewing for fans on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
It was the reigning champion Oda who made the faster start in the encounter as he quickly pulled head to a double break lead in the opening set. The 19-year-old speed and power proved levels above the Brit in the early stages and although Hewett managed to recover one of the breaks Oda held on to claim a one set advantage.
However, as we’ve seen time and time again, the 10-time Grand Slam champion is nothing if not resilient and managed to claw back from 1-3 and 4-5 down in the second set – saving the first of three match points. As Oda looked to close out the match on his own service game, a late surge from the Brit saw him bat away a further two match points to draw back level and eventually force a tie-break.
With Oda increasingly looking vulnerable, Hewett was gunning to capitalise but the top seed proved too tough to break down in the tie-break as he eventually went on to wrap up a valiant victory.
The men's doubles final is set to get underway not before 16:00 UK time.
