Dutch delight Esther Vergeer (centre), who is regarded as the best wheelchair tennis player of all time, at this year's presentation ceremony in Rotterdam after Alfie Hewett (left) beat Gustavo Fernandez in the final
doubles at the Grand Slam tournaments. “Compared with singles, I think it’s so difficult to win a Slamwhen it comes to singles,” he said. “It’s very much you on the day. You can put in as many hours and as much as you can in the training periods, but there’s no guarantee. “I think that’s why our doubles record is so outstanding. It seems like it’s just a normality on the circuit at the moment: Alfie and Gordon will sweep up every tournament near enough. That’s a real sign of where we’re at as a partnership. I would love to do that more in the singles, but it’s a lot tougher. There are so many good competitors who really work hard.” While the Grand Slam tournaments and the Paralympics are the pinnacle for wheelchair tennis players, the ITF’s UNIQLOWheelchair Tennis Tour, which comprises 160 tournaments held in 40 different countries across the globe, offers opportunities to compete throughout the year. One of the most prestigious men’s competitions takes place in February at Rotterdam’s ABN AMROWorld Tennis Tournament, which stages wheelchair competitions alongside the ATP 500 event won this year by Felix Auger-Aliassime. Hewett took the Rotterdam singles title this year, beating Gustavo Fernandez in the
final. “I think we’re extremely fortunate to be able to showcase our sport at the ABN-AMRO,” he said. “We enjoy it. We get to use the facilities and we get to be among all the greats of the sport. “Of course I think the future of wheelchair tennis would be better if we could be integrated more. There would be more exposure. It showcases the sport and I think the more we can do that and the more we can make it more exposed, the better it’s going to get. I believe that we can be integrated more, though that’s a conversation more for committees, tournament organisers, logistics, the tours. It’s not as simple as just having us come along and play. Hopefully that can be improved, but we still have our ITF circuit that runs a tournament almost every single week of the year.” In the coming weeks Hewett will be building towards the French Open, where he will be hoping to build on his tally of 19 Grand Slam titles. At the age of 24 he has every reason to feel optimistic about his chances of going on to further glory, but he still has a way to go before he can even think of emulating Shingo Kunieda, who beat the Briton in this year’s Australian Open singles final. It was the 38-year-old Japanese’s 47th Grand Slam title overall and his 26th in singles.
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