Alfie Hewett insists he will not be complacent in his pursuit of a long-awaited Wimbledon wheelchair singles title.
The Norwich star, 26, will take on fourth seed Martin de la Puente in the final after battling from behind to beat Argentinian Gustavo Fernandez on Friday.
And the 26-time Grand Slam champion will go in with the significant psychological advantage, having beaten the Spaniard on 21 of the 22 occasions they have met in their careers.
It will be the first time Hewett has met De la Puente, 25, in a Grand Slam singles final and the No.2 seed knows he is in for a tough test.
He said: “It’s absolutely no complacency from my side.
“Martin is a really tough player who has come on leaps and bounds over the last few years.
“He’s shown great determination here to reach a Grand Slam final.
“I’m really excited for another opportunity in the final.
“It would mean a lot to me and everyone around me, but I’ve got to be focused from the get-go.
“I’ve learned my lessons over the last few years, so I’m just focused on the process right now ahead of Sunday.”
Hewett was a beaten finalist in both 2022 and 2023 and has made no secret that winning the Wimbledon singles – the only Grand Slam title he is yet to clinch – remains a major ambition.
He was forced to battle against Fernandez, the third seed here, but fought back from a set behind to eventually triumph 4-6 6-4 7-5.
And speaking ahead of his Sunday showdown against De la Puente, he said: “It was obviously a tough battle out there – Gustavo is on form at the moment and his confidence makes it very difficult.
“I felt like I had to weather a couple of storms in all three sets, because he was on fire at the beginning.
“I did well to maintain my level, keep plugging away and keep fighting and try to stop his momentum.”
Hewett was also in doubles semi-finals action alongside long-term partner Gordon Reid, who was knocked out of the singles by Fernandez in the first round.
And they kept their hopes of a sixth Wimbledon title together alive with a hard-fought 6-1 7-6 (12) triumph over Dutch duo Tom Egberink and Maikel Scheffers.
Hewett and Reid will face either Ben Bartram, who also hails form Norfolk, and Spanish partner Daniel Caverzaschi or Japanese second seeds Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in Sunday’s final.
Hewett said: “The resilience we showed in those moments was great.
“We kept backing ourselves and managed to get the win.”
Scottish star Reid, 32, added: “We’re really excited – it’s difficult to think too far ahead but these are the matches and stages we want to be playing on.
“We’re proud of our record here and we want to try and add to it – we’ll be ready on Sunday.”
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