Norfolk’s tennis star Alfie Hewett through to wheelchair doubles final of Australian Open
Alfie Hewett - Credit: Archant
Norfolk's Alfie Hewett has reached the final of the wheelchair doubles at the Australian Open - after beating the top seeds in the tournament.
The 19-year-old, from Cantley, teamed up with Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina to defeat French top seeds and defending champions Nicolas Peifer and Stephane Houdet.
Hewett and his partner clinched a place in the final after coming a set down to win 1-6, 6-1, (10-7) victory.
That sets up a final against Hewett's former partner, fellow Brit Gordon Reid and Belgian Joachim Gerard.
The victory will be especially sweet after Hewett went down to world number two, Houdet, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in his singles match earlier this week.
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Hewett has become a household name in the past year hanks to his success at Wimbledon and his efforts at the Paralympic Games.
He was chosen as the Young Sports Personality of the Year during the 2015 Norfolk Sports Awards.
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At the time, he had been number one in the World Tennis Junior singles for four years in a row and had progressed to 14th in the World Men's singles.
But 2016 saw Mr Hewett reach new heights, with even more success on the world stage.
On July 9, he won the men's wheelchair doubles final at Wimbledon, and just over one month later he represented Great Britain at the Rio Paralympics.
It was there that he picked up two silver medals, one in the men's doubles and the other in the men's singles.