GORDON REID has his eye on more silverware in 2022 – but the Helensburgh wheelchair tennis ace already has his sights set on the one prize that's so far eluded him in his career.
The former Hermitage Academy pupil began his year by reaching the final of the men's singles at the Victorian Open in Melbourne this week.
And though he lost out in Wednesday's final to the world number one and tournament top seed Shingo Kunieda, the competition still served as valuable warm-up practice for the first Grand Slam of the year – the Australian Open, starting on January 23.
READ MORE: Reid ends 2021 in style with Masters doubles triumph
While the 30-year-old's focus in the short term is very much on building up to what he hopes will be a fifth Australian Open winner’s trophy, his gaze is already turning towards the only major prize he and his long-time doubles partner, fellow Brit Alfie Hewett, have yet to win – a Paralympic doubles gold medal.
Assuming he is able to compete in Paris in 2024, the next Games will be Reid's fifth Paralympics – though given that France's Stephane Houdet was 51 when he partnered countryman Nicolas Peifer to gold in Tokyo last summer, there's plenty of time yet for Reid to make it to the top of the doubles podium to add to the singles gold he won in Rio in 2016.
Reid and Hewett won nine doubles titles together in 2021, becoming the first men’s wheelchair doubles partnership to win the calendar Grand Slam after combining to win their second Australian Open and Roland Garros titles together, their fourth Wimbledon title and their fifth successive US Open.
Looking back on 2021, Reid said: “It was another memorable year and to become the first partnership to win the men’s doubles calendar Grand Slam is something we can be very proud of.
“The biggest disappointment, of course, was only coming away from the Tokyo Paralympics with the silver medal.
READ MORE: Gordon Reid partners Alfie Hewett to historic fifth US Open doubles title
“That Paralympic gold medal is still the one major prize in the sport we have yet to win together, but Paris is now just over two and a half years away, so we’ll keep working hard on and off court, aim to add more Grand Slam titles and look to turn our two Paralympic silvers into gold in Paris.”
Reid completed the year with two men’s singles titles after beating Hewett to win the Loughborough Indoor in March and excelling on the iconic grass courts at The Queen’s Club in London in June before reaching the men’s singles final at Wimbledon.
The Rio Paralympic gold medallist also added the men’s singles bronze medal in Tokyo and completed the season with his second top-four year-end singles ranking since being crowned ITF World Champion in 2016.
And the old year ended with Reid and Hewett being named for the second year in a row among the finalists for Team of the Year at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year awards.
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