AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 24, 2025

Alfie Hewett

Gordon Reid

Press Conference

HEWETT-REID/Caverzaschi-Houdet

6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for coming to the press conference for Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid. First of all, congratulations on an incredible achievement. I'm sure there are so many emotions at the moment. Could you please tell us what you're feeling at the moment?

ALFIE HEWETT: Yeah, thrilled obviously. You know, you want to start the year strong, and here in Australia is a great opportunity to get some confidence and get that first slam title under the belt.

So to go out there and do it for the sixth time as well, it's a really nice feeling.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I'm going to rattle off some numbers here at the moment because you mentioned obviously that it's your sixth Oz Open. Sixth straight, I might mention as well. You've won 54 titles, 22 Grand Slams, and add in an Olympic gold and Masters title on top of that as a pair. How are you able to sustain the success all the way through and just keep going through and winning these titles?

GORDON REID: I think the key thing is just never resting on where we are and never being happy with our level, our performance, and always trying to improve.

You know, no matter which title we've won or which number it is, we always go back and review it and see where we can improve and get better. I think that's been the key.

You know, never sort of just accepting and expecting to win. Always trying to push ourselves and, yeah, see where we can take the partnership and the sport of wheelchair doubles.

Q. If you have to, I suppose, review today's -- not today's, but this week's tournament, where does it stack up, I suppose, in all that success that you guys have had?

ALFIE HEWETT: I think we sort of live in the moment, so right now it feels incredible. We're not sitting here right now thinking about any other title that we've won. We take each match literally as it comes.

When you're in a Grand Slam, you are so focused on winning that present match and winning that title and maybe when we've got that 24-hour journey home, you start to reflect a little bit more deeply.

We just want to win. We're so hungry for it. We want to keep going, push those numbers as far as we possibly can. Like GR said, don't take any of it for granted. To win this one right now, it's a really special feeling. They're all up there. Every single Grand Slam title is very meaningful for different reasons. It's a very proud moment for us right now.

It's mad when you talk about those numbers because I don't think we sit there and really look back on them from time to time. We just, yeah, move on and say, Okay, what's next? It's pretty cool to hear.

Q. Have you guys ever had more of a dramatic championship point than what you guys had towards the end? It seemed towards the end shots were being pulled out left and right.

ALFIE HEWETT: It's all part of the script.

Q. How do you guys try to, I suppose, build on the success? You know, you obviously started off the season on a positive note by winning today. How do you guys just keep maintaining that then throughout the year? Obviously it's the start of a long year ahead, but how do you guys keep only that?

GORDON REID: I think looking at what's ahead and what's the goals for the year between us as a partnership. Like I say, we can take the sport and where we can improve as a team.

You know, over the off-season before coming out here, we looked at a couple of parts of our game that we thought we could try out and maybe have success with here. I think there were some good examples of it this week. That's probably something that we will go back and work on and improve and try and make more successful.

But it's those little things that make it interesting and make it exciting for us as well as coming up against a couple of new partnerships out here as well, which is kind of refreshing because it's been similar teams over the last two or three years.

Yeah, it's nice to sort of have that different challenge on the other side of the net.

Q. Andy, obviously, won today in the quad doubles. How promising is that for British wheelchair tennis for the three of you guys to be excelling at the moment?

ALFIE HEWETT: It's huge. I know we've got a bunch of youngsters out there that are very motivated and enthusiastic about their futures. I'm sure it won't be long before they're playing the junior event here, which is also an amazing thing to see because it's the first time that we've had quallies and also a junior event at the Australia Open.

Those things may seem meaningless, but to our tour they're really big things. They help professionalize it even more so and also give the opportunity for the younger players to get a bit of a taste of what it feels like.

For us winning it, I'm sure it puts the Grand Slam on the map even more for those guys and girls who are about to play the junior Masters in France either this week or next week. I'm sure they'll be excited about the future prospect of being here.

Q. How important is an event, say, like a junior or having a junior competition, how important is that to the growth of wheelchair tennis, not just I suppose here in Australia, but around the world?

GORDON REID: Yeah, I think it's great. Like Alfie said, it gives that opportunity to the younger athletes to come here and experience it and know what it's like to be a part of a Grand Slam. They'll all be hoping that one day they're here in the adult draws.

This will give them a lot of motivation and great experience. Yeah, I think it's a great start, and hopefully it's something to build on for the future and at the other slams as well.

Q. I feel like everyone at home is going to be so proud of you. I just wondered how your celebrations out here differ? Have you got family and friends with you? What's going to go on tonight for you?

ALFIE HEWETT: You've got it.

GORDON REID: I'll probably be celebrating a little bit more than Alfie because he has the singles final tomorrow. Yeah, I've got some family here, so yeah, I'll enjoy a bit of time with them tonight and over the weekend because we've obviously been very serious, very professional up to this point.

Yeah, it's nice to always savor these moments and enjoy it. Yeah, we'll see what Melbourne has in store there later on.

ALFIE HEWETT: Yeah, Saturday night (indiscernible) in Melbourne.

Q. What's next after the tournament? What are you looking forward to now that you have another title under your belts?

ALFIE HEWETT: We're playing at the ABN AMRO in Rotterdam, which is only, I think, a week or so after we land. That will be coming fast, and the tour doesn't stop, so there's plenty of other events for us to play and get our teeth into.

But right now it's all about enjoying the moment and when we get back, I'm sure we'll look for the next one.