Alfie Hewett Denies Tokito Oda Grand Slam at US Open

Alfie Hewett arrived in New York with scars. Wimbledon still clung to him – that 6-1 6-1 defeat to Tokito Oda at SW19, the sense of being, in his own words, “a shell” of himself. On Sunday, under the hard lights of Flushing Meadows, he left with something far more powerful.

Redemption. And a fifth US Open men’s wheelchair singles title.

The 28-year-old Briton dismantled top seed Oda 6-0 7-6 (7-5), stopping the Japanese star one step short of a calendar-year Grand Slam and reclaiming a stage that has so often felt like his own.

He had already picked up the doubles crown with Gordon Reid on Friday. This was different. This was personal.

From mirror to masterpiece

Hewett admitted his Wimbledon loss forced him into uncomfortable self-examination. He “looked in the mirror,” he said, and decided he needed to be “a little bit more like me” again – the version of Alfie Hewett who relishes the big points, who plays on the edge and doesn’t blink.

That player walked into Arthur Ashe this time.

After saving a break point in the very first game, Hewett flipped the match on its head. He tore through the opening set 6-0, a blur of aggression and clarity, sealing it with a stunning backhand return winner that screamed intent as much as it scored a point. He later called that set “possessed”. It felt exactly that: a man playing as if the last six weeks had been building to this one hour of tennis.

Across the net stood the most dominant force in the sport. Oda, still only 20, had strung together six consecutive Grand Slam singles titles. Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon – all his in 2026. Twice this year he had beaten Hewett in major finals, including that brutal afternoon at SW19 when the Briton managed just two games.

New York offered Oda the clean sweep. It offered Hewett a chance to rip up the narrative.

Oda pushed back – and Hewett refused to fold

The second set told a different story. Oda, pride stung, raised his level. His forehand bit harder, his length improved, his movement sharpened. Hewett, so ruthless in the first set, suddenly found himself under siege.

The Japanese star surged into a double-break lead. The scoreboard, and the momentum, leaned heavily his way. This is where Oda usually closes the door, where his metronomic consistency suffocates opponents and drags finals into his control.

Hewett refused to accept it.

Point by point, he clawed his way back. The rallies grew longer, the tension thicker. Oda earned three set points to force a decider; each time Hewett stared them down and found a way out. The Briton’s earlier talk of fearlessness stopped sounding like a hope and started looking like a game plan.

They arrived at a tie-break with the match hanging by a thread. Oda, chasing history. Hewett, chasing himself.

Hewett struck first, then held his nerve. At 6-5, with a first championship point on his racket, he completed the comeback, taking the breaker 7-5 and with it the title – his 11th Grand Slam singles crown.

A dream denied, and respect earned

For Oda, the defeat cut deep. “Definitely I was trying to get the calendar year [Grand Slam] this year,” he said on court. “This was the last part of it so it’s really tough for me, but I think Alfie deserved it today.”

He was right. This was not a shock ambush or a scrappy upset. It was a champion reasserting himself on one of his favourite stages, just when some had started to wonder whether the balance of power had shifted for good.

Hewett leaves New York with a singles-doubles double, the aura of vulnerability from Wimbledon washed away, and the rivalry with Oda burning hotter than ever.

The Japanese prodigy still has time on his side and six straight majors behind him. Hewett has his pride restored, his edge sharpened, and proof that when the biggest moments arrive, he can still be the one who dictates them.

The calendar Slam is gone for Oda. The question now is simpler, and far more compelling: after this statement in New York, who really owns the future of men’s wheelchair tennis?