The top four seeds advanced in straight sets at the Rolex Paris Masters, setting up a repeat of last year’s final between Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid.
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid will meet in the wheelchair singles semi-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters on Saturday. The British players reached the last four on Friday, along with Spain’s Martín de la Puente and Argentina’s Gustavo Fernández. All four seeded players won their quarter-finals in straight sets at the Plénitude Arena in Nanterre.
Top seed Hewett beat China’s Ji Zhenxu 6–1, 6–4. The second set stayed level through eight games before Hewett secured the late break. The tournament reported that the match lasted 87 minutes, the longest of the four singles quarter-finals.
Reid returns to face the defending champion
Reid defeated France’s Stéphane Houdet 6–4, 6–4. He won the opening four games, then held his advantage as Houdet settled into the match. Reid and Hewett played the final at this tournament last year, which Hewett won. The winner of their rematch will have a chance to play for the title again on Sunday.
De la Puente beat Dutch player Tom Egberink 6–1, 6–1 in 44 minutes. Fernández defeated French wild card Guilhem Laget 6–0, 6–1. Their semi-final repeats the recent French Riviera Open title match, where Fernández beat De la Puente.
Singles opponents return for the doubles final
De la Puente and Egberink were opponents in singles and partners in doubles. Together they defeated Houdet and Ji 6–3, 7–6, winning the second-set tie-break 7–3. In the other semi-final, Reid and Fernández beat Laget and Nicolas Charrier 6–1, 6–3.
That makes for a quick turnaround for three of the singles semi-finalists. De la Puente and Fernández will compete on opposite sides of the net twice on Saturday, while Reid will switch from facing Hewett in singles to joining Fernández in doubles.
Saturday’s matches are on Court 2
The wheelchair singles semi-final session is scheduled to start at 11:30 local time, with Hewett and Reid first. The doubles final is scheduled from 16:00. The singles final is listed for noon on Sunday and the tournament plans to stream it with commentary on its official YouTube channel.
The International Tennis Federation lists the Paris event as an indoor hard-court WC500 tournament with eight players in the singles draw. The small draw gave the top seeds one match to settle into the venue. Saturday’s pairings bring together players who have already tested one another in recent finals.
Sources
Rolex Paris Masters — wheelchair quarter-final results and semi-final pairings
Rolex Paris Masters — wheelchair event schedule and streaming
International Tennis Federation — Paris WC500 tournament information
