AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 27, 2023

Alfie Hewett

Gordon Reid

Press Conference

HEWETT-REID/Scheffers-Spaargaren

6-1, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. We have Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett, our Australian Open wheelchair doubles champions.

Huge congratulations to you both. Straight-sets win today. How are you feeling coming off the court?

ALFIE HEWETT: Yeah, really happy. I think we couldn't have asked for a better final really, to go 1-2 in straight sets against a pair that we just managed to get over the line a week ago. Shows the progression just in the short space of time.

Feeling good. We'll be delighted with the fourth one.

GORDON REID: Yeah, agree. Feel great. I think that's exactly the kind of performance we're looking for. Especially to do it in that pressure moment in a final like that is really confidence building for us.

I think last year we had to scrap our way through quite a lot of matches. This year we wanted to, right from the start of the year, try and take matches by the scruff of the neck and try to dictate them. I think that's exactly what we did today.

Yeah, we're really proud of that performance.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Gordon, do you think you are now fitter at the start of this year and that is a reason why perhaps you won't need to scrap quite so much in some of the rounds?

GORDON REID: Yeah, I think just my body's in better shape. I think pretty much every tournament I played last year, every match we had in doubles, I was either carrying an injury or hadn't been able to prepare the way I would want to.

Being healthy, the rest feeling good, there's a block of ice on it now, but that's just precautionary. It just means we can play our A game, be aggressive, move the way we want to, take the ball the way we want to.

I think we didn't quite manage to do that in the first two rounds, but that was more a psychological thing rather than a physical thing. To be able to turn that around today and produce a performance like that, I think we're both really happy with it.

Q. You had this tremendous run. You lost at Wimbledon, lost at the US Open. A, must have been quite an unusual feeling coming in not being so dominant. Was that motivation because of the previous slam performances?

ALFIE HEWETT: Yeah, absolutely. We've been on such a great run. I think I saw it was 14 consecutive finals, which is an unbelievable record, shows the level of consistency that we can bring to the court.

To lose obviously on our home turf in Wimbledon in the final was a tough defeat to take. But considering what we'd gone through in terms of hours we'd been playing that week, the lack of preparation from GR's side, we gave everything. But we couldn't produce the level we needed to on that day that we needed. U.S. was a similar circumstance.

Sort of have to take those defeats with a pinch of salt because we know we can do a lot better. The main thing was to be 100% fit as a team, and then this tour we've just been building and building. It's been a long while since we've been able to play our sort of flowing tennis that we've worked hard over the years. Today it all came out, so happy.

Q. Gordon, is that motivation because of the previous two defeats in the finals?

GORDON REID: Yeah, I think as well we wanted to kind of send a message to ourselves, but everybody that we were back firing on all cylinders.

We've been getting together for the last couple of months when we've had chances down in London to work specifically on the doubles. Made the decision after the US Open last year to take the rest of the year to really try and get fully fit and healthy.

Last week was about building those foundations of our game, and then this week trying to build on that again. Yeah, I think we're both just pleased to be back, enjoying doubles again, not having to work our way through Plan B and Plan C, but actually take our A game and produce it on the big stage.

Q. Where do you think your main rivals are likely to come from over this year and the next couple years?

GORDON REID: Yeah, I think there's some strong teams forming. The whole landscape of wheelchair tennis looks a little bit different at the moment at the top of the men's game, obviously with Shingo retiring, the French boys not in the picture at the moment.

There's some different doubles teams out there, which I think every team we've played this week we've never played at a slam before. That was a new challenge for us.

I think the Dutch have three great doubles players. Whichever ones of them pair up for the rest of the year will be a tough challenge. You've got Oda and Ben, if they keep playing together, they'll improve as a team. Both youngsters that like to swing and slap at the ball. They can be tough to play.

I think we've obviously got Gustavo and Martin de la Puente that are forming a strong team and playing a lot of events together as well.

Yeah, there's going to be some tough teams out there to beat. For us, we obviously enjoy the wins, but we want to keep improving, we want to go back and look at what we can do better from this event, try to keep going forward for the rest of the year.

Q. Dylan Alcott, has he changed perception of disability in wheelchair tennis? Are you benefitting from the legacy he's gotten for this tournament?

ALFIE HEWETT: Yeah, I think he has. I don't know Dylan as well as you do. I think Gordy has a better relationship with him. I don't think you need to have a great relationship with him to see exactly the work he's done, not only in Australia but I think globally.

There's times we've gone through airports, someone will ask, because I have bags stacked on wheelchairs, You play wheelchair tennis. They go, Dylan Alcott. Literally even in Europe. I'm, How does he have this effect even on our side of the world? That shows the work that he's done to change those perceptions.

I think it's such an important thing with the roles that we have and the platforms that we have. He managed to develop an unbelievable audience and a great platform to be able to share some really personal and probably influential experiences that can change those stereotypes or perceptions.

He's not only just spoken bit, he's gone and done something. He has his ability, first of all, and a foundation that does a lot for disabled people. Yeah, unbelievable work.

Q. A thought on tomorrow, Alfie?

ALFIE HEWETT: Excited.

Q. 16-year-old. I know he's pretty special.

ALFIE HEWETT: I swear he's been 16 for the last three years (smiling).

He's going to come out swinging. He's fearless. Reminds me a little bit of me in my younger days.

I know how he'll be feeling. He'll be relishing the opportunity to get his first Grand Slam. I'm going to have a very difficult match on my hands.

I played him last week, know what he's capable of. I'm also playing some of my best tennis at the moment, feeling physically in good shape. That's going to set up to hopefully be a really good match.

Q. We were here till 7 in the morning watching Andy Murray, trying to articulate what he just did. I presume you weren't surprised by the fact he never says die.

GORDON REID: I think if you want a week or a couple of matches to sum up Andy as an athlete, as a person, I think that was a great example last week.

I mean, it wasn't long ago that we were in this venue, there was a video, a montage of people saying good-bye to him and thanks for everything he's done. To come back and win those matches, show that typical Andy Murray grit and determination, it was just brilliant to watch. It was amazing to see.

Really inspiring for me as a fellow Scot, a fellow British player. Yeah, I think it's a great sign for him as well for the rest of the year. Obviously five-setters are tough. But for other events throughout the year as well. If he can produce some of the tennis he was playing as well, it wasn't just the mental and physical effort, some of the tennis he was playing was really top class as well. Hopefully we can see more of that going forward this year, see him going deeper and deeper into the tournaments.