HELENSBURGH wheelchair tennis hero Gordon Reid has hit another career milestone...just in time for Wimbledon.
The former Hermitage Academy pupil and his long-time doubles partner Alfie Hewett chalked up their 50th title as a partnership at the LTA's Rothesay International Eastbourne tournament at the weekend.
The British pair, who won their 20th Grand Slam title together at the French Open last month, defeated another British duo, Ben Bartram and Dahnon Ward, 6-0, 6-0 in Saturday's final.
The duo are in south-west London this week for the Lexus British Open Roehampton, which will see the world's top players compete on grass as they make their final preparations for Wimbledon, where the wheelchair tournament runs from July 9-14.
Reid and Hewett are aiming to retain the Wimbledon title they won in 2023 as they go for a sixth doubles crown at SW19 - with the Paralympics in Paris also on the horizon later this summer.
This year’s Rothesay International Eastbourne was the first of the LTA’s major grass court tournaments to feature men’s, women’s and quad wheelchair draws all at one venue.
Hewett had earlier become the inaugural men’s wheelchair champion at Eastbourne, defeating Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez 7-6 6-3.
Speaking after the singles final, Hewett said: “This means a lot. This is a massive summer for us with the Paralympics just around the corner and obviously the small matter of Wimbledon as well.
"This is the first time I’ve played a competitive tournament at Eastbourne so I’d like to thank the tournament for having the men’s division this year
"It’s really important for us to try and get as many matches and opportunities to play on the grass but also the best set of fans possible.”
Finals day in Eastbourne saw British players contest five of the six finals in the wheelchair tennis competitions with Lucy Shuker winning her first grass-court title, victorious in the women’s doubles alongside partner Jiske Griffioen with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Dana Matthewson and Zhenzhen Zhu.
Andy Lapthorne and Greg Slade made it four titles on the day for British players by defeating Heath Davidson and Ahmet Kaplan 7-6, 6-3 in the Quad doubles final.
Earlier on Saturday, Lapthorne had made an excellent start in his singles final against Australia’s Heath Davidson, taking the first set before his opponent turned things around and eventually came through 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.
Speaking after the final Alfie Hewett encouraged fans to head along.
He said: “If you don’t manage to get any ground passes for Wimbledon, then just pop on down the road and most of the players will be there, so I look forward to getting some more support.”
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