GORDON REID’S preparations for the first Grand Slam tournament of the new year have gathered pace this week with an impressive run at the Melbourne Open.

With the start of the Australian Open just a few days away, the former Hermitage Academy pupil began his Melbourne Open campaign with a straight sets win over the home nation’s Anderson Parker at the Hume Tennis and Community Centre, triumphing 6-0, 6-0.

That earned the 31-year-old a second round tie against Japan’s Takuya Miki – and Reid, who is unseeded for the men’s singles, upset the odds with a fine 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over the tournament’s sixth seed.

Overnight, Reid beat number four seed Martin de la Puente, of Spain, in the quarter-finals 6-3, 6-4 to earn a semi-final spot against Japan's Tokito Oda.

Depsite making a flying start to the match, he bowed out of the singles competition against the world number four, losing 0-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Reid's time at the Melbourne Open is not over, however, after he and fellow Brit Alfie Hewett defeated Dutch duo Maikel Scheffers and Ruben Spaargaren 6-7(3), 6-1(10-7). 

They will face Belgium's Jaochim Gerard and Miki, Reid's second round opponent, in the final.

Earlier today, Hewett has also booked his place in the singles final after beating Gerard 7-5, 6-1.

The wheelchair tournament at the Australian Open – the scene of Reid’s first Grand Slam singles triumph way back in 2016, when he beat Gerard 7-6, 6-4 ­– gets under way at Melbourne Park on Tuesday, January 24, with the finals to be played on the weekend of January 27-28.