International
Japan Open 2026: Alfie Hewett & Gordon Reid seal third doubles title of the season
• 1 minute read
Alfie Hewett booked his place in his second Japan Open men’s singles final in three years before he and Gordon Reid claimed their second men’s doubles title in Iizuka City on Saturday’s penultimate day of this year’s WC1000 tournament.
Greg Slade also finished runner-up in the quad doubles in his first career final at WC1000 level.
Hewett beat 2017 and 2018 Japan Open champion Reid 6-3, 6-3 as the British No.1 and British No.2 met at the Japan Open for the third time, with Reid having won their previous two encounters in Iizuka Open in 2016 and 2018.
Reid earned 10 opportunities to break Hewett’s serve in the opening set, but could convert only one of those opportunities as Hewett converted two of his three break points.
As they had in the first set, Hewett and Reid shared the first four games in the second and, while they both also converted two of their three opportunities to break, it was Hewett who proved stronger in the important moments as he secured victory in an hour and 17 minutes.
23-time Grand Slam champions together, Hewett and Reid later sealed their third men’s doubles title of 2026 and their 14th career title at WC1000 level – previously known as Super Series level before 2026 – after beating Spain’s Martin de la Puente and Tom Egberink of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-1.
The top seeds and 2018 Japan Open champions opened up a 3-1 first set lead over De la Puente and Egberink before their opponents earned game points to try and level the set at 3-3. However, the opportunity came and went quickly and Hewett put away a forehand volley at the net to wrap up the opening set.
After establishing another 3-1 cushion at the start of the second set, this time Hewett and Reid showed no signs of allowing De la Puente and Egberink back into the set. Hewett skilfully sliced a cross-court forehand out of the reach of Egberink to seal victory after exactly an hour of play.
Slade and Brazil’s Leandro Pena have enjoyed an impressive tournament debut as a partnership in Japan this week, including beating the top seeds in their semi-final.
However, the fourth seeds were unable to make their mark against Dutchman Sam Schroder and Australia’s Jin Woodman and the third seeds, who made their tournament debut as a partnership at last month’s Cajun Classic, took the quad doubles title 6-3, 6-1.
How to follow the Japan Open finals
You can watch all the action from this weekend's finals live on the Fukuoka Sports YouTube channel.
Imagery provided by Frank-E Photography
