Dylan Alcott sets retirement plans for 2022 Australian Open
Two-time Paralympic quad singles gold medallist and 23-time Grand Slam champion Dylan Alcott today announced that the 2022 Australian Open in January will be his last professional wheelchair tennis tournament.
World No. 1 Alcott’s impending retirement at his home Grand Slam, where he is the first player in any format to triumph in seven straight years, will bring to a close one of the sport’s most celebrated careers for a player who has long-since transcended tennis and Paralympic sport.
The 30-year-old became the first male player to complete the Golden Slam this season after his victory at the Tokyo Paralympics before he claimed his third US Open and 15th Grand Slam singles title. He is set to end 2021 with just one singles loss for the second time in three seasons.
“The Australian Open is such a special place for me. There’s no way I could have finished my career at the US Open a few weeks ago because the US Open’s not my home,” an emotional Alcott said when announcing his retirement plans at Melbourne Park.
“This is my home and the Australian Open changed my life. Tennis changed my life … I owe it everything and what better way than to finish in my home city in front of big, big crowds after the year that we’ve had - it’s going to be incredible.”
Alcott is a four-time Paralympic medallist in wheelchair tennis, becoming a two-sport gold medallist after finishing on top of the podium in quad singles and quad doubles at the Rio Paralympics in 2016.
Having first taken up wheelchair tennis as a teenager, he switched sports to represent Australia in wheelchair basketball at two Paralympics and was part of the Australian Rollers team that won gold in Beijing in 2008 before adding a silver medal in London in 2012.
Alcott then returned to wheelchair tennis and alongside his singles gold medal he also won the quad doubles gold medal with childhood friend Heath Davidson.
Alcott and Davidson have currently won four Australian Open doubles titles together and followed up their Rio gold medal with silver at the Tokyo Paralympics this year. They also joined forces to take Australia to its first BNP Paribas World Team Cup quad title in 2016 before regaining the title in 2018.
Alongside his success on the court, Alcott's infectious personality has helped him build an increasingly successful and wide-ranging media career as a TV and radio personality, which in turn has had a great impact on helping to build the profile of wheelchair tennis. Meanwhile, off-court Alcott has been an influential, passionate and vocal advocate for those with a disability, particularly young people.
“All I want to do is leave Paralympic sport in a better spot for the next generation of athletes,” Alcott said after completing his Golden Slam with his third US Open victory.
“I often actually forget how many Slams I’ve won, because it’s not my purpose. My purpose is changing perceptions for people with disability to live better lives. If I’ve played a very, very small role in that, then I’ve done what I need to do.”
Alcott is particularly proud of the role that his home Grand Slam has played in that progress. In 2017, the Australian Open quad wheelchair singles final was contested at Rod Laver Arena, becoming the first major tournament to host its wheelchair event on centre court.
Prime time wheelchair tennis finals, televised live on Australian TV, have since become a prominent feature of the Australian Open. Earlier this year, the Australian Open was the first Grand Slam to expand its quad singles draw to an eight-player knockout event.
Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley paid tribute to Alcott and his incredible career, while proposing a toast in his honour.
“Dylan is an incredible person, his influence, infectious personality and positivity has impacted countless people, and across a far wider field than just sport or tennis.
“It’s largely because of Dylan’s profile, boundless energy and popularity that we now see our incredible wheelchair athletes on centre court during the Australian Open, and on prime time TV.
“Dylan was always adamant that he wanted to be treated as part of our elite playing group, not as a wheelchair athlete, and that’s what we’ve always done. And now Dylan is not just a great champion who has set record after record, he’s an unbelievable ambassador for our sport.
“I can’t wait to see Dylan compete one last time at the AO in January, and I know the fans will turn out in droves to support him."
Alcott’s role in changing perceptions is helped by the many community and business interests he has developed in parallel to his tennis and media careers. He is the co-founder of Get Skilled Access and Able Foods, a meals distribution company and also runs his own charitable foundation and the music festival Ability Fest, which has raised money to support young Australians with a disability.