Wimbledon: 'Sting for a while’ – Alfie Hewett loses wheelchair singles final to Shingo Kunieda in dramatic fashion

ByThe Editorial Team

Published 10/07/2022 at 14:56 GMT

"I'm obviously gutted. That is going to sting for a while," said Briton Alfie Hewett after he suffered a final set tie-break against Japanese top seed Shingo Kunieda. It was another day to remember for Kunieda, who has won 11 singles titles at the Australian Open in addition to eight victories at the French Open and eight at the US Open.

Alfie Hewett has expressed huge disappointment after losing the Wimbledon men’s wheelchair singles final 4-6 7-5 7-6 (10-5) to Japanese top seed Shingo Kunieda in dramatic fashion.

Hewett was contesting his first singles final at Wimbledon and came tantalisingly close to victory as he served for the championship four times.

Ultimately, however, it ended in heartbreak for the Briton as Kunieda won seven successive points from 5-3 down in the final tie-break to complete a remarkable golden Slam.

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"I'm obviously gutted. That is going to sting for a while," said Hewett.

"It has been incredible this week to get wheelchair tennis on Court One and to get the amount of spectators that were there. There have been some incredible matches. I will reflect on this with a lot of positives and I'm just ready for a break.”

Congratulating Kunieda, who now holds all four major men’s wheelchair singles titles after his first-ever Wimbledon triumph, Hewett said: "Congratulations to Shingo and his team. We were both so desperate to win. You are one of the best wheelchair players we will ever see. That was epic from you today."

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It was another day to remember for Kunieda, who has won 11 singles titles at the Australian Open in addition to eight victories at the French Open and eight at the US Open.

Kunieda, said it was "a dream came true right now" and paid tribute to Roger Federer, who he said had provided him “very good advice last year”.

Shingo Kunieda of Japan celebrates after wining championship point against Alfie Hewett of Great Britain during Gentlemen's wheelchair singles - Final during day fourteen of The Championships Wimbledon 2022 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

Image credit: Getty Images

“Thank you to Alfie for a great battle,” the 38-year-old continued.

“You have more years [ahead of you] than me so you can get this title in the future.”

It was the second time Kunieda had come out on top against Hewett this weekend. On Saturday, he and partner Gustavo Fernandez defeated Hewett and Gordon Reid in the wheelchair doubles final.

The British pair were aiming for an incredible 11th consecutive Grand Slam title but they were beaten 6-3 6-1 by the second seeds on Court Three - their first loss at a Slam final since Wimbledon in 2019.

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