Hewett hails Watkins after advancing to Wimbledon semi-finals

By Will Jennings at Wimbledon

Alfie Hewett thanked England hero Ollie Watkins for sparing him an even later pre-match night after battling into the wheelchair semi-finals at Wimbledon.

The Norwich star, 26, beat experienced Frenchman Stephane Houdet with a hard-fought 6-1 6-4 triumph on Court 3.

The previous evening, football fan Hewett had joined the rest of the nation in watching the Three Lions’ dramatic Euro 2024 triumph against the Netherlands as super-sub Watkins’ last-gasp strike brilliantly fired them to their first ever final on foreign soil in Berlin.

Hewett admits he was gearing up for extra-time and hailed the Aston Villa striker for sending him to bed slightly earlier ahead of his quarter-final clash – their 30th career meeting and ninth in Grand Slams – on Thursday.

“I was a little bit tired today after all the shouting last night!” he laughed.

“It was incredible – I was getting the extra snacks ready for extra-time and then Watkins does what he does.

“It was quite nice as I could go to bed half an hour earlier – and my anxiety wasn’t too high for today: I’m looking forward to Sunday!

“To get through to another semi-final is a really good feeling – there were certain frustrations but I’ve got another opportunity to go one step further.”

Hewett breezed to the first set against four-time singles Grand Slam champion Houdet, 53, with a fluent 6-1 triumph.

But his cunning opponent battled back and continued to attempt deceiving Hewett with a series of underarm serves.

That halted Hewett’s march to victory but he eventually seized the decisive break of serve to book his place in the last four for the fifth time since 2017.

Hewett, who will face Argentinian third seed Gustavo Fernandez on Friday, said: “Stephane is a tricky opponent and he has tricks up his sleeves, with those underarm serves,

“I felt like I managed to do well to not let it get to me – I think it fuelled me if anything, and to serve it out like that is a confidence-booster.

“I’m no stranger to Gustavo – we’ve played a lot of semi-finals against each other in Grand Slams.

“He has lots of intensity and aggression, he’s a big character and I expect a battle out there.”

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