In a back hallway of Rod Laver Arena, following his first of two victories on Thursday, quad wheelchair star Dylan Alcott of Australia finished an interview and then turned to wheel away, only to be greeted by a group of waiting fans.

“Can we get a picture?” One asked, wistfully. “Of course, mate,” came Alcott’s reply.

Playing in his seventh Australian Open, the five-time singles champion added a third consecutive doubles title here to his CV alongside countryman Heath Davidson later on Thursday, in a final played on Margaret Court Arena, one of the two biggest stadiums here.

Alcott is a household name in this country – and continues to barrack for wheelchair tennis to grow as big as it can around the globe.

“That match was live on Channel 9 [the Australian broadcaster]. Not many wheelchair tennis matches get played live on national TV like that,” he told itftennis.com of his singles win earlier in the day, revenging a loss to Andy Lapthorne of Great Britain from the US Open final. “(The match) was the curtain-raiser to Ash Barty’s semi-final. That’s unbelievable.”

Stroll around the grounds of Melbourne Park on Wednesday or Thursday, the first two days of the wheelchair event here, and the grounds are abuzz with fans – both able-bodied and in wheelchairs – taking in the women’s, men’s and quad wheelchair events, played mostly across Courts 3, 7 and 8, each with their own respective grandstands.

Young kids in wheelchairs waited courtside for Alcott’s autograph and selfies, too.

“That is why I do what I do for sure,” added Alcott, who is 2-0 in round-robin play here. “Winning is fun, but the look on their faces when they get to meet us, and when they come here and see us and go, ‘Oh my God, I can do that, too.’ There are also those everyday life things that people take for granted that are really hard for those of us with disabilities. We’re changing that stigma and culture. It makes me emotional – I love it so much.”

Alcott also loves winning, which he has done plenty of. He hopes to goes for a sixth Australian Open crown on Saturday, following the completion of the round-robin on Friday. Meanwhile he and Davidson fended off Lapthorne and American David Wagner in the quad doubles decider, the first silverware to be handed out in the wheelchair event this Australian Open.

“I love playing doubles with Dylan,” said Davidson, a fellow Aussie. “We play some good tennis together and now a third in a row (here). We both want to carry that on into the singles… I’d like to play him on Saturday (in the final).”

It was a busy, hot day two of wheelchair tennis on Thursday, as Alcott won his second of three round-robin matches, while Wagner beat Davidson in the other.

In women’s singles, China’s Zhu Zhenzhen was looking to follow up her first-round shock of world No.1 Diede de Groot, but was stopped short by Aniek van Koot, de Groot’s Dutch compatriot and doubles partner.

Van Koot won a nearly two-hour match, 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 amidst boiling temperatures, with matches being stopped for some three hours in the mid-afternoon due to the Australian Open’s Extreme Heat Policy.

“It was an eventful day, a stressful one,” said van Koot. “I’m so happy with the outcome. Zhenzhen is so consistent and her mobility on court is getting better. In the important moments I remained calm. I had my game face on… and not my stressful face (laughs).”

Van Koot’s win over Zhu booked her a place in the singles final, where she’ll meet Yui Kamiji, the No.2 seed from Japan. Kamiji held off South Africa’s Kgothatso Montjane in two tight sets, 6-3, 7-5.

Van Koot is chasing a fourth singles Grand Slam title, while Kamiji is after her seventh, though a first since 2018 at the French Open.

“She’s an amazing player,” Van Koot said of Kamiji. “Head-to-head she’s won more matches against me, but it doesn’t really matter; I need to get my head on straight to play my best against her.”

Van Koot echoed Alcott’s earlier sentiment about the popularity of wheelchair tennis, which for the first time in its history will feature all four majors as well as the Paralympics in one calendar season – for all disciplines.

“The crowds are getting bigger and bigger,” said van Koot. “Yesterday after my match there was this big crowd cheering us, and they weren’t Dutch, they were Australian. I said to myself, ‘This is awesome!’”

Kamiji and the men’s top seed, Shingo Kuniedo, are big-time names in Japan, as well, with the Paralympics already setting ticket-sales records ahead of the August Games in Tokyo. Kunieda beat Great Britain’s Alfie Hewett, 6-3, 6-3, on Thursday, and will meet another Brit, Gordon Reid, in Saturday’s final.

Reid held off Joachim Gerard of Belgium 6-4, 7-5, after a first-round upset of world No.2 Gustavo Fernandez.

Kunieda, one Grand Slam title short of the all-time (singles and doubles) record held by Esther Vergeer, says he’s not focusing on the Paralympics, as it’s still six months away in the calendar.

“This is my home Paralympics, so I’m very excited for it,” he said. “But I will focus on the wheelchair tour first. Tennis is the most popular Paralympic sport in Japan because of me and Yui, so we will expect big crowds. I’ll wait until the Opening Ceremony to really imagine how it’s going to feel in the moment.”

In doubles, Kamiji will feature alongside good friend Jordanne Whiley in the women’s final Friday against de Groot and van Koot, while Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer will take on Hewett and Reid, who won a late-night battle over Fernandez and Kunieda.

They are familiar names to wheelchair watchers around the world, but Alcott sees them all as superstars in their own right – and doing their best to grow the game, on and off the court.

“I’m a lucky one, but I hope this permeates to other athletes around the world,” Alcott said of his name recognition in Australia. “I know there is a product that people have wanted to watch for years. The Australian Open, Channel 9, the ITF, they’ve backed what we’ve been talking about. The reason we’re on TV isn’t just because we’re inspirational, it’s because we’re elite athletes, too. People want to watch it.”