Wimbledon 2025: Alfie Hewett & Gordon Reid finish wheelchair doubles runners-up; Greg Slade misses out in quad doubles final
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Six-time Wimbledon men’s wheelchair doubles champions Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid will need to wait for another year before attempting to win a seventh title at The Championships after they lost out 7-6(1), 7-5 to second seeds Martin de la Puente and Ruben Spaargaren.
Meanwhile, a breakthrough week for quad British No.2 Greg Slade came to an end with runners-up honours in the quad doubles alongside South Africa’s Donald Ramphadi after top seeds Niels Vink and Guy Sasson secured a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
With Hewett and Reid looking for their third title in a row at the All England Club, the defending champions traded blows with De la Puente and Spaargaren throughout the opening set of the men’s doubles final, but neither team was able to create daylight and a tie-break was needed to separate them.
However, Hewett and Reid were unable to recover from a slow start to the tie-break and their opponent’s moved ahead after a first set lasting 79 minutes.
There were definite signs of a revival in the second set as an enthusiastic crowd on No.1 Court willed the home favourites on to a 3-1 lead. As the match ran in to a third hour De la Puente and Spaargaren levelled up at 4-4 and after some long, punishing rallies they managed a final shift in momentum to wrap up victory.
Reid, who had been looking for the 30th Grand Slam title of his career, said, “Obviously we are really disappointed; it wasn’t our best performance today but I have to say congratulations to Martin and Ruben today they deserve it, they’ve had a great week.
"You never want to finish the week with a loss but, if we’re going to do it anywhere, it’s got to be in front of this crowd because we love playing in front of these guys. Thank you everyone for coming to watch.”
Hewett, who will now contest the 21st Grand Slam singles final of his career on Sunday, when he takes on top seed Tokito Oda in the men’s singles final, added, “It’s an incredible feeling to be out here on an iconic court like this, in front of all of you guys. It’s what we’ve both dreamt of for so many years.
"We’ve obviously got our hands on the trophy a few times but, win or lose, it’s always a special feeling playing on the home turf in front of the amazing support and hope it continues in the following years.”
Slade, who has secured his best career singles win by ranking this week, and reached his first Grand Slam final, was unable to hit the heights of his quad doubles semi-final with doubles partner Ramphadi.
After beating second seeds Ahmet Kaplan and Sam Schroder, the unseeded duo earned multiple game points against top seeds Sasson and Vink, but were unable to get on the scoreboard until late in the second set and eventually lost out 6-0, 6-2.
Reflecting on his breakthrough week, Slade said, “It’s been very special, For only our second tournament together this isn’t to bad, so thank you to Donald, and to our team of supporters. This trophy is as much theirs as it is mine. It’s ben a great eek with some positive result, so I’m looking forward to seeing what the future brings.”
