Teen Tennis Sensation: Kaito Oda Makes History as Youngest Gold Medalist Ever
Kaito Oda Becomes Youngest Player to Win Gold Medal in Wheelchair Tennis Singles at Paris Paralympics
Kaito Oda, the second seed, defeated top seed Andy Hewett (Great Britain) in a thrilling match, winning 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 to become the youngest player to win the gold medal in the wheelchair tennis singles event at the Paris Paralympics.
Oda, 18, ranked second in the world, is making his debut at the Paralympics. At just 18 years old, he has already won four Grand Slam titles, and last year he became the youngest player ever to be ranked number one in the world.
In the first set of the day, Oda played aggressively and won four games in a row from the first game. Although he was broken once in the fifth game, he broke for the third time in the sixth game to take the lead.
In the second set, Oda had a chance to break but couldn’t. With the score at 4-4, he allowed Hewett to break in the ninth game, and the score was tied at one set.
In the final set, Hewett stepped up his game and broke Oda in the first game, but he broke back in the second game immediately after. However, he was broken a second time in the third game and was trailing 3-5.
Oda, who was on the brink of defeat, broke back again in the 10th game when Hewett was serving for the match, tying the score at 5-5 in the last minute. He then broke again in the 12th game, winning a fierce battle that lasted more than two and a half hours and becoming the second Japanese man to win a gold medal in this event, following Shingo Kunieda.
Oda also advanced to the finals in doubles, where he and Takuya Miki were the second seeds. In the final match held on the 6th, they lost in straight sets to the first-seeded pair of Hewett and G. Reid (Great Britain) 2-6, 1-6, and although they were unable to win the gold medal, they did win the silver medal.
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