Helensburgh’s Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett made history by winning a record equalling 16th Grand Slam title together.
Reid and Hewett equalled the record for most Grand Slam men’s doubles titles won by a pair in the Open Era on Friday, after the British second seeds beat Dutch duo Maikel Scheffers and Ruben Spaargaren 6-1, 6-2 to seal their fourth successive Australian Open wheelchair title.
Contesting their 14th successive Grand Slam final, second seeds Hewett and Reid raced to a 4-0 lead over Scheffers and Spaargaren before wrapping up the opening set in 27 minutes as Spaargaren sprayed a forehand wide of its intended target.
The duo won 12 points without reply for a 5-1 second set lead, before Reid served out the match on the third championship point after a double fault on the first.
Hewett and Reid’s latest title sees them equal the record of 16 Grand Slam men’s doubles titles as a pair won by American twins Bob and Mike Bryan.
And Gordon, who now has 22 major titles to his name across singles and doubles after an injury-hit 2022, reflected on a hard-fought success.
He said: “It’s never easy but if we can play like we did on Friday and go on court with the mindset and the intention we had for that game then it certainly can be slightly easier that we sometimes make it.
“We’re really pleased and there are lots of positives to take away.
“Obviously, there are always things that we can try and improve on as well, which is another thing we’ll take out of the day, but overall we’re really happy.”
