Defending wheelchair champion Hewett beaten in semi-finals

Alfie Hewett’s Australian Open men’s wheelchair singles title defence ended in the semi-finals with defeat by Spain’s Martin de la Puente.

The top seed, a 10-time Grand Slam singles champion, lost 6-4 6-4 in one hour and 27 minutes.

Hewett, 28, had fallen at the same stage in the men’s doubles alongside Gordon Reid on Thursday, losing a match tie-break to Japan’s Tokito Oda and Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez.

The British pair had been targeting a seventh consecutive title in Melbourne.

De la Puente, the third seed, will face second seed and 2024 champion Oda in the final as he bids for his first Australian Open crown.

In the quad doubles, Great Britain’s Andy Lapthorne also fell short in his title defence, losing to top seeds Guy Sasson and Niels Vink 6-3 6-1 alongside his Australian partner Heath Davidson in the final.

Second seed Lapthorne was searching for a third consecutive men’s doubles title – and ninth overall – in Melbourne and had beaten Sasson/Vink in straight sets in last year’s final, partnering Sam Schroder.