GORDON REID is due to face off against fellow Brit Alfie Hewett in the quarter-finals of the French Open in Paris today (Wednesday).
The Helensburgh wheelchair tennis hero set up the last-eight tie with an impressive 7-5, 6-2 win over former two-time champion and home favourite Stephane Houdet on Tuesday, while Hewett saw off Belgium's Joachim Gerard 6-1, 6-3.
Wednesday's tie will be the third time since 2018 that Reid and Hewett have met in the last eight of the singles tournament at Roland-Garros.
World No. 5 Reid had to dig deep for the win after Houdet amassed a 5-2 lead and four set points in the opening set on Court 13.
But the former Hermitage Academy pupil managed to reel off six games in a row to close out the set with a drive volley after 52 minutes, before opening up a comfortable 4-1 cushion in the second set and going on to complete the win in one hour and 38 minutes.
The British No. 2, who is hoping to reach his third French Open men's singles final, and his first since 2019, said: “It was a bit of a slow start from me in the conditions and he had a noisy home crowd behind him, but I think being set points down in the first set sparked me into action a bit.
"Once I found that momentum I felt like I dominated the rest of the match.
"Hopefully I can do a little bit better than I did against Alfie in last year’s quarter-final (which Hewett won 6-1, 6-0), but it’s going to be a very tough match.”
Hewett, the world number one, made it three wins over Gerard in three meetings on the Parisian clay since they met in the 2020 final.
Now a three-time French Open champion, Hewett said: “Me and Joe had a lot of battles in the past, so to come away victorious is what you want at this stage, and the way I played was very positive.
"I’ve been playing a lot of good tennis recently and so to carry that momentum into the first round here makes me very happy.
“Gordon’s got a new coach recently and he’s developing his game. It’s something I’ve witnessed at first hand because we train together, and it’s a good sight, but I know that means that matches against him are going to be tricky.”
The winner of the all-Britain quarter-final on Court 13 will face either Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina or the United States' Casey Ratzlaff in the last four.
Fernandez saw off Japan's Takashi Sanada 6-1, 6-3 in Tuesday's first round, while Ratzlaff came from a set down to beat Mikael Scheffers of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Meanwhile, the British pair will be on the same side of the net, again on Court 13, later on Wednesday when they line up against Scheffers and his countryman Tom Egberink in the men's doubles quarter-final.
The pair are going for their fifth French Open doubles title in a row - a feat which would match the record they set at the US Open from 2017-21 and went on to match in Melbourne in February when they made it five Australian Open titles in succession.
Should Reid and Hewett win their last eight doubles tie, they'll face either Fernandez or Houdet, or Sanada and another Dutchman, Ruben Spaargaren, in the last four.
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