Gordon and Alfie
The Last Five Years in Their Own Words
After storming to victory in the Roland Garros doubles final and claiming their 11th Slam title together Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett became the most successful all-British doubles partnership at the Grand Slams. And this year at Wimbledon they’ll celebrate five years since winning their first in that impressive run, as well as it marking five years since Reid won the first ever Wimbledon men’s open division wheelchair tennis singles title.
We take a trip down memory lane with Team Heid and look at their highlights, lowlights and the developments they’ve seen at the Championships over those years.
ON BREAKING THE RECORD
“Me personally I think it’s quite difficult to compare records in the past with now and also then the able-bodied side and the wheelchair side of tennis, so for me the most pleasing thing is that me and Alfie are creating our own records, bringing home the trophies one by one and winning together.” – Gordon Reid on becoming the most successful all-British doubles partnership at the Slams
ON HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED
GORDON: “I think there’s just a bit more weight placed on the wheelchair event, it’s become a little bit more highly respected and there’s more interest in it. If you think back to 2016 our doubles final and my singles final were played on Court 17 and it wasn’t really an event it was just kind of another match. Whereas now we’re playing those finals on Court 3, it’s packed out and it’s live on TV and there’s a bigger deal made out of it which is exactly where we want to be moving forward.“
FUNNIEST MOMENT
ALFIE: “For me it’s Court 3 again and we’re playing in the final and there’s Gordy’s lot in one corner and my lot in the other one and they are just chanting at each other. My grandma was absolutely going for it so it was quite funny to watch.”
GORDON: “Yeah I don’t know which year it was maybe 2017 or 2018 there’s a clip of us winning the match point and then the camera pans to my friends and family in the crowd and my best mate is just having a full on hug with the stewardess.“
FAVOURITE MOMENT
GORDON: “For me it’s got to be when I nearly snapped Alfie’s back at the end of our first doubles final. It was a big moment for both of us. Our first Grand Slam together, our first Wimbledon title there was so much on that match and it was such a close one – that was a really special one.”
ALFIE: “Court 3 and being there on that big stage for a couple of finals that has to be up there too. It’s rare for us to be playing in those sorts of matches and feeling like we’re in the limelight. It was a whole new level.“
MOST CONTROVERSIAL MOMENT
ALFIE: “I know I’ve blasted a few balls at Henman Hill but that’s not very controversial is it?”
GORDON: “It’s got to be when Stefan Olsson fell out of his chair and got his racket passed to him by the ball kid. Yeah it looked good on the highlight reels but technically we should have won the point.“
WORST MOMENT
GORDON: “Me personally probably going out first round in the singles in 2017. Obviously after winning the title the first year and then going in to defend and falling at the first hurdle it was tough.”
ALFIE: “Well I’ve not reached a singles final so that’s a difficult one. 2019 was a pretty rough one though. Obviously losing the doubles final and getting pretty torn apart in the singles by Gustavo Fernandez in the semis, it was definitely one to forget.“
BEST POST-MATCH CELEBRATION
ALFIE: “Oh the third set tie-break against Gustavo and Shingo (Kunieda) in the doubles semi-finals, well it was both years really but there was one of the years, I think it might have been 2017, and I’ve never screamed so loudly after a match. It was just so tight and could have gone either way. I think I popped a vein I screamed so hard and in the pictures you can see it just bulging.”
GORDON: “I’ll always remember the push from Court 17 to the media centre after I’d won the singles title in 2016. I had about ten of my friends just walking by me, singing songs and pouring champagne over my head so I turned up to the press conference absolutely soaked and stinking of champagne.“