Alfie Hewett barely broke sweat. Gordon Reid had to dig into the reserves. Between them, Britain’s leading wheelchair duo found two very different routes into the US Open men’s singles quarter-finals on a busy day in New York.
Hewett, the four-time champion and number two seed, delivered the kind of statement win that echoes around a draw. He dismantled Spain’s Daniel Caverzaschi 6-0 6-2, dropping just two games and never loosening his grip on the match.
From the first ball, Hewett’s level smothered any hint of resistance. The serve landed heavy, the returns came back deeper, the rallies stayed on his terms. By the time Caverzaschi finally got on the board, the opening set had vanished in a blur and the contest already felt settled.
The reward is a quarter-final against American Casey Ratzlaff, a home hope with the crowd on his side but facing a player who has long treated these courts as a second home. Hewett knows this territory. He knows what it takes to turn early dominance into another New York run.
Gordon Reid's Battle
Reid, by contrast, had to ride the bumps.
Facing French veteran Stephane Houdet, the Scot was dragged into a two-hour, 13-minute battle before prevailing 6-3 5-7 6-2. Where Hewett cruised, Reid had to reset, regroup and then finally pull away.
He controlled the opening set, then saw the match tilt as Houdet clawed his way back to snatch the second. At 1-1, the tension rose. This was the kind of scrap Reid has lived through many times, and he leaned on that experience in the decider, tightening his game as Houdet’s resistance began to crack. The final set scoreline – 6-2 – looked comfortable. The work behind it was anything but.
Now comes the toughest task in the sport. Reid’s next opponent is defending champion and top seed Tokito Oda, the Japanese star who has strung together six consecutive Grand Slam singles titles. Oda sets the current standard; Reid will have to find his very best just to live with it.
Hewett and Reid in Doubles
Their rivalry does not stop at singles. Hewett and Reid are again hunting the US Open wheelchair doubles crown as a pair, chasing a sixth title together in New York. They cleared their opening hurdle on Tuesday and already have a semi-final lined up against Oda and Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez – a heavyweight clash in all but name.
So while the British flag still flies high in the men’s draw, the quad events told a different story on Wednesday.
Quad Events
Andy Lapthorne and Greg Slade both exited in the first round of quad singles. Lapthorne ran into top seed Niels Vink of the Netherlands and fell 6-2 6-1, unable to disrupt the Dutchman’s rhythm or authority. On the adjacent path, Slade went down 6-4 6-2 to Argentina’s Gonzalo Lazarte, a match that slipped away once the key points went the Argentine’s way.
Lapthorne’s tournament is not over, though. He remains alive in the quad doubles, already through to the semi-finals alongside South African partner Leon Els. With singles gone, his focus turns fully to that campaign.
For Hewett and Reid, the stakes rise now. One pushing to turn dominance into another title charge. The other staring down the game’s most formidable force. Both still in the fight, both still carrying British hopes deep into the New York night.
