Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid Win Sixth US Open Title

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid know this court, know this stage, and know exactly how to suffer on it.

Five years after their last US Open triumph together, the British pair were dragged to the brink in New York, a set and a break down and staring at another near-miss at Flushing Meadows. Instead, they dug in, turned the match on its head and walked away with a sixth men’s wheelchair doubles title as a partnership, beating Martin de la Puente and Ruben Spaargaren 2-6 6-3 10-7 in a tense match tie-break.

A champion team under real pressure

For a while, it looked ugly. De la Puente and Spaargaren flew out, attacking early, rushing the net, and ripping through the opening set 6-2. When they then broke early in the second, the contest threatened to run away from Hewett and Reid entirely.

This is where their history kicked in.

They slowed the chaos. Returns found their range. First serves started to land with purpose instead of hope. The rallies lengthened, and with them came doubt on the other side of the net. The British duo wrestled back control to take the second set 6-3, forcing the decider into a match tie-break with the crowd now fully locked in.

The pressure finally told in the breaker. Reid and Hewett, so often unflappable on the biggest points, edged ahead and refused to let go. At 10-7, another Grand Slam was theirs.

A landmark for Reid, and a partnership that endures

For 34-year-old Reid, this was Grand Slam doubles title number 30, an extraordinary haul built over more than a decade at the top. Eleven years on from his first major doubles crown, he is still collecting them, 26 now alongside the same partner.

Hewett, 28, made no attempt to hide what this one meant.

“We've not won here for five years so this is something we've been desperate for and highly motivated for,” he said on court, trophy in hand. “It won't be the last, we've got plenty more doubles to play in the future.

“These are the sort of matches we want to play in front of such an amazing crowd. I'm glad we could put on a bit of a show for you tonight.”

Reid, sitting beside him, underlined just how long this alliance has lasted.

“It's been more than 13 years we've been playing together and he's not sick of me yet,” he joked. “Hopefully we've got a few more years left in us.”

Thirteen years, 30 majors for Reid, a sixth US Open together, and still they talk about what comes next. On this evidence, the rest of the field will be asking the same question: how many more can they win?