Alfie Hewett credited his mental toughness to overcoming Martin de la Puente and punching his singles final ticket at the LTA’s Lexus British Open Roehampton.

The 26-year-old met the Spaniard in last year’s Wimbledon semi-final but it was a rather different encounter to the straight sets win 12 months ago.

Hewett took the first set after before the match went to a decider after the second. The Brit forced to fight in the third before clinching a 6-4 3-6 6-4 win.

And Hewett lauded his mentality in the third set as he kept his cool to set up a showdown for the men’s singles title against second seed Gustavo Fernandez.

Hewett said: “Martin’s a great player and we’ve had a lot of battles recently, he’s a top player, so I’m just glad to get through.

“I felt like in those matches every point is so important and you just want to get as many points on the board and hopefully they turn into games.

“He did that really well in the second but I rallied and was strong in the third.

“I think in a high-intensity match like that it’s difficult to see the best shot and play it.

“You’ve got to make the right decisions, commit to them then execute them and I did that in the first set.

“He ramped it up in the second set and made it very difficult for me. I kept my head and served well which was massive. Every game and every point is so decisive.”

Hewett made history by reaching the first final of the Lexus British Open Roehampton held on grass and will be going for a third tournament title on Friday.

He added: “It’ll be a very similar match to the one I’ve just faced. He hits big and doesn’t give you much time on the ball.

“The British Open is such an iconic event so it would be great to defend it, it would also give me so much confidence going into next week.”

It was not meant to be for fellow singles compatriot Gordon Reid who was denied by Fernandez, getting in the way of an all-British final in the capital.

Fernandez won 6-4 6-4 against Reid despite the Scot saving three match points in the second set.

Andy Lapthorne bowed out in the quad singles semi-final to top seed and world No. 1 Sam Schroder, the Brit retiring with the scores at 6-1 2-1.

In women’s doubles, Lucy Shuker and partner Angelica Bernal lost out in the semi-final to top seeds Yui Kamiji and Kgothatso Montjane, 6-0 6-2.

And the day finished with a men’s doubles semi-final thriller with De la Puente back on court alongside Joachim Gerard, up against Ben Bartram and Spaniard Daniel Caverzashchi.

Caverzashchi and Britain’s own Bartram forced a decisive tie-break by firing back from going a set down.

But, across an hour and a half, De la Puente and Gerard pushed their way through to the final with a 6-4 1-6 10-8 win.

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website