Alfie Hewett relished the rare experience of facing an unknown quantity at the Paralympics.

The Norwich wheelchair tennis star has looked at most of his rivals in the whites of their eyes by now but was met with a fresh challenge in the men’s doubles quarter-finals at Paris 2024 alongside Gordon Reid.

Hewett and Reid had never faced Dutch duo Ruben Spaargaren and Maarten Ter Hofte before meeting them in the last eight of the Games tournament at Roland Garros.

The British pair dominated the early stages and leapt into a 5-0 lead in the first set but  Spaargaren and Ter Hofte, aged 25 and 20 respectively, made inroads at that stage.

Hewett and Reid eventually found the formula for success and imposed themselves to claim 6-2 6-1 victory in 1 hour and 35 minutes.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Hewett, who is part of Aldi’s Nearest and Dearest programme in partnership with ParalympicsGB, helping to maximise support and minimise potential distractions for athletes so that they can focus on their performance.

“We've not played them before, which is sort of unique. We have been used to playing similar pairs on the tour, so to face a different challenge and a little bit of uncertainty as to what they were going to bring was a challenge that we relished.

“We really came out the blocks firing and they grew into it as the match went on. I'm just glad that we raised our level when they did and I think it produced a really good match.

“There were a lot of long games that we came out on top of, and it was a really good test going into the next match.”

Hewett and Reid relished playing in front of a raucous crowd that felt more like Disneyland than Wimbledon.

Paris 2024 organisers have brought in schoolkids by the busload to fill seats with the umpire issuing a warning to the crowd at the start of the second set.

“I think that's what the Paralympics is all about,” said Hewett. “It’s about showcasing not just wheelchair tennis, but a wide range of different disability sports to a generation that probably would never watch some of these sports.

“I really feel like the Parisians and everyone else are really buying into it, getting behind the movement and just embracing it and being in Paris has probably been one of my favourite experiences so far in my career. I’m loving every second of it.”

Hewett and Reid have singles quarter-finals to focus on first but set up a meeting with familiar foes in the final four, France's Frederic Cattaneo and Stephane Houdet, who will certainly enjoy the backing of the home crowd.

"It was one of our dreams before the tournament to come up against the local favourites," said Reid. "We'll be ready to go."

Aldi are proud Official Partners of Team GB & ParalympicsGB, supporting all athletes through to Paris 2024.