Wheelchair tennis ace from Norfolk involved in travel chaos ahead of the US Open
Alfie Hewett has defended his men's wheelchair doubles title at the US Open. Picture: Tennis Foundation - Credit: Archant
Wheelchair tennis star, Alfie Hewett, who has been stranded in Chicago for almost 24 hours will arrive in New York tonight ahead of the US Open.
Alfie now faces a race against time to be ready for his first match on Thursday.
The tennis ace from Cantley, Norfolk, won the US Open men’s wheelchair doubles title last year.
His preparations for the final grand slam of the year have been severely disrupted because of the travel chaos.
Alfie was forced to sleep on the airport floor last night and has had to cancel his practice and media interviews which were scheduled for today.
His American Airlines flight was suppose to depart Chicago at 12.15pm yesterday afternoon. After two hours of being stuck on the runway the flight was delayed because of bad weather in New York.
The passengers were then told that because the plane had been on the runway for so long it needed refuelling. To the passengers amazement they were told that there was no-one available to refuel the plane.
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After three and a half hours of waiting at the gate, a new pilot had to be found as the one scheduled for the initial flight had left.
Shortly after this the flight was cancelled.
Alfie was then transferred to a United Airlines flight which was delayed for two hours and then cancelled leaving him flightless for the night.
Having queued for two hours waiting to speak to American Airlines, the tennis ace was informed he would not be reimbursed because the cancellation was down to the poor weather conditions.
To add to the chaos Alfie was then told the airline had no idea where his bags were.
The wheelchair ace from Norfolk described his travel disruptions as “ridiculous” in a video on twitter last night.
