GORDON REID and Alfie Hewett have added yet another piece of silverware to their bulging trophy cabinet – but they had to work hard to do it.

The most successful partnership in the history of men’s wheelchair tennis came from a set down to secure victory in the doubles tournament at the Lexus British Open against Spain’s Martin de la Puente and Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina.

Reid and Hewett faced an uphill battle, against a pairing they’d beaten in the semi-finals on their way to Wimbledon glory last month, after losing the first set 6-4.

They fought hard to win the second 6-2 to take the final to a decidin tie-break - but had to again dig deep into their reserves of physical and mental strength to win it by a nailbiting 11-9 margin.

The British pair had begun their quest for success at the Nottingham Tennis Centre with a 6-2, 6-0 win over France’s Nicolas Charrier and Sergei lysov of Israel, before booking their place in the final by defeating the Dutch pairing of Maikel Scheffers and Ruben Spaargaren 6-1, 7-6 in the last four.

And having already triumphed in the first three Grand Slams of 2023 – in Australia in February, France in June and Wimbledon last month – thoughts for Reid and Hewett are now turning towards Flushing Meadows in September, where the British duo will be aiming for what would be an unprecedented seventh US Open title together.

Speaking after the dust settled on the action at Nottingham at the weekend, Hewett said: “It’s been an incredible summer for me and Gordon, it’s definitely going to be up there when we eventually look back at our careers as one of the most special.

“I think it’s been a real turning point for wheelchair tennis in Britain – the publicity we’ve had over the last six weeks has been phenomenal and not something that we could have even imagined.

“Hopefully next year we can put on a bigger and better show.”

Reid’s bid for singles success in Nottingham was ended at the quarter-final stage as the 31-year-old, who had beaten Lysov 6-4, 6-2 in his opening tie, was edged out in another nailbiting match, losing 5-7, 6-3, 6-7 (5) to Joachim Gerard.

The Belgian player went on to reach the final, but found Hewett too tough a nut to crack, with the East Anglian winning 6-2, 6-0 in what he described as “one of my best performances ever”.