Reid and Hewett celebrate Paralympic redemption

There were tears again for Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett but this time they were of sheer relief rather than bitter disappointment.

Three years after agonisingly losing in a wheelchair tennis men’s doubles final that went the distance, they completed their career Golden Slam in style at Roland Garros.

Japan’s Tokito Oda and Takuya Miki were brushed aside 6-2 6-1 to spark special scenes on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Reid and Hewett can rightly claim to be one of British sports greatest double acts - and it’s now 1,915 days since they last lost here in Paris, the Kings of Clay now sitting on a golden throne.

“We finally did it, it’s ours,” said Reid.

“Sometimes you need to feel some pain to enjoy the highs when they come, we need to really savour this moment.

“We’ve been desperate this for a long time, we’ve come close twice and felt that heartbreak and pain. Those matches have been some of the toughest moments of my career, so sit here with the gold around our necks is one of the best feelings I’ve had in sport.

“It feels amazing, even if it’s not fully sunk in yet, the emotions and adrenaline are still high.”

It took nearly an hour to wrap up the first set, the match settling into a rhythm of cross-court fizzes from Hewett, deft drops from Reid and Oda’s increasingly vocal répertoire of grunts.

The scoreline may have looked comfortable but the statistics told another story, both teams adopting the tactic of hanging in rallies and waiting for an unforced error, Oda and Miki converted just one of the eight break point chances they were given.

However, the second set saw the Brits in total control, their relief evident - after the disappointments of Rio and Tokyo - as they put away their second match point chance.

Hewett arrived in Paris as the world number one in both singles and doubles and he has justified that tag with some swaggering performances in recent days.

And his week could get even better as he prepares to take on Oda in the men’s singles final on Saturday, where another gold would complete another Golden Slam.

“I’m not thinking my singles, we’ve been working hard for this moment, I don’t want to put it to one side, tomorrow I’m going for another gold but tonight is all about us,” said Hewett, who won his first Wimbledon singles title just a few weeks ago.

“We’ve wanted this title for a very long time. We’ve been on such a journey to get here. It’s hard to put in words the last few months, it’s the stuff of dreams.

“Tokyo was three years ago, we’ve grown a lot in that time and we manage the big moments a lot better now. When it comes to big points, we know what to do.

“We felt confident going into this week but there is always a doubt because of those two losses at the Paralympics. We’ve just squashed that and just played our brand of tennis and thankfully this time we’re not crying on each other’s shoulders.”