This victory was possibly as much about relief as joy for Hewett and Reid, given what had gone before.
They went in as the clear favourites and have won 21 Grand Slam titles together in doubles, including all three played this year. On each occasion they defeated Oda and Miki in straight sets in the final. They had also won the past five French Opens on the clay of Roland Garros.
However, the Paralympic title had previously proved elusive, with the pair losing to France’s France’s Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer in the finals of both Rio and Tokyo in 2021.
The defeat three years ago was particularly hard to take, coming in a match that lasted three hours and 25 minutes and was concluded by a final-set tie-break. Afterwards, Reid said he was “heartbroken”, while Hewett felt “devastated and emotional”.
The emotions were very different this time.
They were made to work for the win, though, having broken twice on their way to an early 3-0 lead. Oda and Miki fought back and had two chances to level at 3-3 but could not convert, the Britons eventually closing out the set with Reid’s prowess at the net and accuracy with drop shots proving key.
The second set went by quickly and although Oda and Miki did manage to break the Hewett serve, they only won a total of 10 points in it.
It was clear what this meant to Hewett and Reid in the final game, with both roaring “come on” in unison when they moved two points away before Hewett raised his arms in the air when they got to match point.
