At just 20 years of age, Alfie Hewett has already become an inspiration for people involved in disability sport.

Alfie was born with a congenital heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot and had open heart surgery when he was just six months old. At the age of six he was then diagnosed with Perthes Disease, which is a rare condition affecting the hip.

In 2005 Alfie started to play wheelchair tennis after attending a Tennis Foundation Camp. By 2008 he was playing in his first tournament, and by 2012 was the Junior Masters singles and doubles champion.

Now Alfie is one the world’s leading players and has won grand slam titles both individually and in doubles competition. He also won two silver medals at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio.

More recently, Alfie won both the men’s singles and men's doubles competitions at the 2018 US Open.

The increasing popularity of wheelchair tennis means Alfie is now a familiar figure to many of us, and his success continues to raise the profile of the sport here in the UK.

As one of our Don’t Quit Do It ambassadors, Alfie appeared with us at the Superhero Tri in August. Speaking about Don’t Quit Do It, Alfie said:

“It’s great that Irwin Mitchell are doing so much to raise awareness of disability sport and help people across the country to get involved. Playing wheelchair tennis has given me so many great opportunities, and I’m hoping I can inspire others to get involved and enjoy sport as much I do.”

Find out how you can get involved in wheelchair tennis.