Australian Open 2024 results: Alfie Hewett fails to retain title as Tokito Oda wins final
- Published
Hewett won the Australian Open and US Open singles titles last year while Oda won the French Open and Wimbledon
Australian Open 2024 |
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Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 14-28 January |
Coverage: Commentary from 08:00 GMT on Tennis Breakfast on Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds, with selected live text commentaries and match reports on the BBC Sport website and app |
Britain's Alfie Hewett failed to retain his Australian Open wheelchair singles title as he lost in straight sets to 17-year-old Tokito Oda in the final.
Hewett, an eight-time Grand Slam singles winner, beat Oda in last year's final to win his first title in Melbourne.
However, he was defeated 6-2 6-4 by the Japanese second seed on Sunday.
"Making a final is something to be proud of, so I am proud even if it hurts right now," top seed Hewett said.
"Last year was my first time winning the Australian Open and I know how special it is and what a moment it is," the 26-year-old added.
On Saturday, Hewett and his British partner Gordon Reid won their fifth Australian Open men's wheelchair doubles title in a row when they overcame Japanese pair Oda and Takuya Miki 6-3 6-2.
Oda, who beat Hewett in the final at both the French Open and Wimbledon in 2023, got the better of the world number one again to win his third major title.
He broke Hewett's serve in the fifth game of the opening set and went on to win the next five games to take a healthy lead in the second before wrapping up the victory in one hour and 31 minutes.
"It was some high quality tennis there and you [Oda] produced some of the best tennis I have seen you play, so fully deserved today and credit to everything you have done to earn this," Hewett said.
"I wasn't at my best today but the guys who are with me today, who have been with me the whole tour, have been incredible this last couple of weeks.
"I really felt like I was starting to play some of my best stuff but I couldn't do it in the moment today."
Earlier on Sunday, world number one Diede de Groot won her 135th match in a row when she beat Japanese second seed Yui Kamiji in the women's wheelchair singles final.
The Dutchwoman won 7-5 6-4 to claim her 13th consecutive Grand Slam title and surpass Shingo Kunieda for the longest streak of major wheelchair singles titles.
In the quad wheelchair singles final, Dutch second seed Sam Schroder won his third straight Australian Open title with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Israel's Guy Sasson.