Reid and Hewett grateful for Queen's opportunity

Gordon Reid seldom gets to play major competitions on home courts – so it’s little surprise a Queen’s debut provided an “extra dimension” for the wheelchair tennis star.

Paralympic champion Reid was among those making history in London this weekend, taking part in the very first wheelchair competition to be held at the Queen’s Club.

He wasn’t the only Brit in action either, Alfie Hewett taking to the court in both the singles and doubles alongside his compatriot, with a mixed week of results.

Reid won his opening singles match to reach the semi-finals but both Brits came a cropper thereon as neither made the final, eventually won by Stefan Olsson.

The doubles had equally mixed fortunes as Reid and Hewett won one and lost the other of their round-robin matches, finishing second behind Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer.

But with new ground broken, there’s a feeling of more to come for the Brits in front of home fans – particularly with Wimbledon just around the corner.

“I love playing on grass, and it is great to play on home turf as well,” said Reid.

“There are a lot of positives to take – it is great to some matches on grass and work out what needs to be improved on as well.”

An early introduction to the grass court season could put both Reid and Hewett in good stead for Wimbledon, with the pair looking to defend their doubles crown from 12 months ago.

Indeed the pair have been victorious for the past two years, as well as winning the US Open last year, with Reid winning the singles competition back in 2016.

The 26-year-old knows he’ll have to up his game if he wants a repeat performance this time around however, losing out in the Queen’s semi-finals to Houdet despite winning the first set.

He added: “It was quite a frustrating match for me because I felt like I started well.

“I played a good first set and then there were chances for me to go out of reach in the second set and I didn’t take them.

“I thought I was in control of the match, and most of the points were within my control but I wasn’t accurate enough to finish them off.”

Reid, meanwhile, received a bye straight into the semi-finals but he wasn’t able to make the most of his chance as he lost out 6-3 6-3 to Olsson.

That same day saw the pair miss out in the first of their doubles matches, losing in two tight sets to Houdet and Peifer.

But Reid and Hewett ended their week on a high, beating Olsson and Daniel Caverzaschi 6-1 6-1 with an impressive performance.

Reid added: “Next for us is the exhibition match at Eastbourne on Friday – that will be a great demonstration to showcase the sport, like we have here this week.

“To be given the chance once again to go to an event like that and play our sport is a great opportunity.

“It was good to bounce back. The first game was a tough doubles match – there were quite a few things we wanted to work on, and I think we came on and played the tennis we wanted to play so that was very positive.”