Great Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid were unable to defend their Wimbledon men’s wheelchair doubles title as they were beaten in a thrilling final by Martin de la Puente and Ruben Spaargaren.
Hewett and Reid were going for an incredible 24th Grand Slam title as a pair – and a third in a row at SW19 – and were backed by a vocal home crowd on Court One.
Those in attendance were treated to some high-quality tennis in an absorbing encounter, where any mistake was immediately punished.
But De la Puente and Spaargaren had the quality in the high-pressure moments to win 7-6 (7-1) 7-5.
There was also defeat for Great Britain’s Gregory Slade as he and Donald Ramphadi lost in the quad doubles final – for athletes with significant impairments in both upper and lower limbs – 6-0 6-2 to top seeds Guy Sasson and Niels Vink.
“Really disappointed,” said Reid on court afterwards. “It wasn’t our best performance and they deserved it. They had a great week.
“You never want to finish the week with a loss but if you are going to do it anywhere it is here in front of this crowd.”
Hewett added: “It is an incredible feeling to be out here on an iconic court like this.
“To play in front of this crowd is what we always dream of. I hope it continues in the following years.”