Alfie Hewett captures a record fifth trophy in Rotterdam

For the fifth year in a row, Alfie Hewett turned out to be the best wheelchair tennis player among the men in Rotterdam Ahoy. This time, the 26-year-old Briton defeated Belgian Joachim Gérard, who is nine years older than him. It was an impressive match on the new Wheelchair Arena. Sometimes the scoreboard doesn’t quite reflect the intensity of the battle; though the two players parted on the seemingly on-way score of 6-2, 6-3, there were several hard-fought games, with some clear opportunities for the muscular Joachim Gérard.

'I always play my best here in Rotterdam,’ Hewett truthfully concluded, with his fifth trophy from the ABN AMRO Open. The tournament’s been held for over a decade, and it’s incredible to think that five of those sixteen trophies belong only to Hewett. 'And five years in a row, that's amazing. I remember when I first came here, I saw that row of big portraits of tournament winners on the wall. I told myself that I also wanted to be up there. Winning once was already my goal and now winning five times is unbelievable.’

This victory in Rotterdam strengthens Hewett, currently second in the ITF rankings, in his battle back to the top spot against the 17-year-old Japanese Tokito Oda. The British No.1 who also won the Australian Open last month, had defeated the left-handed Japanese in Ahoy two years ago, but this year Oda did not participate, leaving the field open for Hewett to capture a new record.

In the women’s draw, the last prizes to collect were in doubles. In the all-Dutch contest, the highest award went to singles winner Diede de Groot and singles finalist Jiske Griffioen. Together on the same side of the net, the pair defeated another Dutch couple Lizzy de Greef and Aniek van Koot 6-0, 6-4.