HELENSBURGH hero Gordon Reid made history as he clinched his first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open on Saturday.

The wheelchair tennis star produced a magnificent performance to defeat Joachim Gerard of Belgium 7-6, (9-7), 6-4 in the final in Melbourne.

World number five Reid had already broken new ground to become the first British player to reach a Grand Slam wheelchair tennis men’s singles final after defeating world number one Shingo Kunieda and Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez earlier in the week.

The final was a tense affair and Reid had to hold his nerve early on to save a set point in a first set tie-break. He put away his own second set point with a forehand winner.

Reid made the crucial breakthrough in the third when he broke Gerard to love to take a 5-4 second set lead, before calmly serving out for a memorable victory.

Reid spoke of the joy he felt after clinching the historic win.

He said: “It’s amazing. It took a couple of seconds to sink in that it was actually match point and it was just pure joy. I heard everyone go crazy and it was joy and a bit of relief.

“The first set was really close. We were both struggling to break each other’s serve and when we both had break points we served well and made it hard for each other.”

After the final win Reid conceded that his three singles ties had felt like the toughest of his career. He revealed that his success in the sport he only took up to keep himself fit after contracting transverse myelitis – a disease affecting the spinal cord at the age of 13 – was beyond his wildest dreams.

He said: “There were a couple of my friends who I went school with here in the crowd with some of their friends in the crowd supporting me, which was amazing.

“They included Gary (Peak) who was with me when I was younger and what happened happened to me and he has literally been there with me the whole journey so it was amazing to have him in the crowd today.

“I’ve been working with my coach Karen Ross since I was 15 so a long time. We’ve done everything together and put in so many hours in training together and moments like this make it all worthwhile.

“Everybody at home was setting their alarms for 2.30am to watch it and my phone has just blown up with messages.

“It’s always amazing to have such great support.

“When I started 12 years ago I just wanted to get active and healthy again. I never dreamed that I would be here but as time went on I realised I was actually quite good at it.

“It was the three toughest matches of my life. Shingo is the best wheelchair tennis player ever, Gustavo who I played in my second match is so solid.

“Then Jo, to play someone with such a big serve is tough so it’s definitely been the toughest three matches of my life which makes it even more satisfying.”

The 24-year-old had to be content with runners-up honours in the men’s doubles as his bid for a second Grand Slam title with Japan’s Shingo Kunieda came to a thrilling conclusion.

Reid and Kunieda traded sets with top seeds Stephan Houdet and Nicolas Peifer, before racing into a 5-0 lead. But Houdet and Peifer went on to win 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and eight minutes.