The UNIQLO Interview: Quads debut at Roland Garros, Wimbledon

The debut of quad wheelchair tennis singles and doubles events at Roland Garros and Wimbledon over the past two months has been widely acclaimed by players, wheelchair tennis fans and the media alike, providing a multitude of historic highlights.

It also paves the way for the potential for even more history in the weeks to come as Dylan Alcott heads towards the US Open as one of two wheelchair tennis players attempting to complete the calendar year Grand Slam.

While all four Grand Slams now includes men’s, women’s and quad singles and doubles events, the inclusion of quad singles and doubles on the competition schedule at the second and third Grand Slams of the year enabled two more wheelchair players to make their Grand Slam debuts.

One of them, Ymanitu Silva, followed in the wake of a host of top Brazilian players to grace the clay courts at Roland Garros, with arguably the most revered of them all, Gustavo Kuerten, watching courtside as Silva and his peers plied their trade.

“(I’ve) arrived to fulfil my childhood dream. What a dream to be here,” said Silva on social media as he prepared for his first Grand Slam match against world No. 1 Alcott.

“It was the perfect week at Roland Garros and great spirits for me and my team,” he added later.  “Gustavo Kuerten was in the courts watching my two matches and after he looked for me. The Copa Guga Kuerten is a big wheelchair tennis tournament in Brazil that many wheelchair tennis players play 

“It was a very good experience and it is very important for the quad division to be in all the Grand Slams. I would love the opportunity to come back to play at Roland Garros.”

With Roland Garros and Wimbledon also ushering in a knockout format for their quad singles draws – as opposed to the round-robin format traditionally used to decide the finalists at the Australian Open and the US Open - Silva’s title challenge was short-lived in Paris this year, as Alcott advanced to his second Grand Slam final of the season.

Meanwhile, world No. 2 David Wagner completed the line-up for the first ever quad singles final at Roland Garros

“I am so grateful to have been one of those first matches. Thank you to everyone who made this possible,” said Wagner on social media.

USA’s six-time Grand Slam singles champion, who beat Japan’s Koji Sugeno in his semifinal and partnered Alcott for the very first time as the American-Australian duo won the first Roland Garros quad doubles title, added:

“It’s a dream come true. We’ve lobbied for it and pushed for it for a long time, and this is the best thing we could have happen. We had Wimbledon, then Roland Garros followed suit, and we already have the US Open and Australian Open. It’s perfect for the quad division – it’s absolutely what we want.”

“The courts are nice – it’s Roland Garros, so you can’t complain, there’s no better clay courts in the world. And it’s chilly, but that’s fine. I prefer it like this rather than super-hot like Australia. I’d take that all day long.”

The theme of dreams coming true continued at Wimbledon, where Londoner Andy Lapthorne partnered Alcott to lift the first ever quad doubles title to be won on the iconic grass courts, having already booked his place in Wimbledon’s first quad singles final.

And while three-time Roland Garros men’s singles champion Gustavo Kuerten had been courtside to watch the first wheelchair matches on the Parisian red clay, five-time Wimbledon ladies’ singles champion Venus Williams was an interested courtside spectator at Wimbledon. Venus watched on at the quad doubles final and the singles semifinal featuring Lapthorne and Wagner, some 18 years on from Lapthorne sharing a lift with Venus and sister Serena in his first ever visit to Wimbledon as a ten-year-old.

"It's crazy, it's been a long time coming, it's been a dream to play here, ever since I got into that lift with Venus and Serena, all those years ago," said Lapthorne. "Ever since that day, I've always wanted to play here. And Venus comes out and watches the match today. It's mad how, sometimes, things in life come full circle.

"When you are in a lift with these two, what looked to me like two giant athletes, and I had watched them so much on the TV and stuff, to see them in real life was just really inspiring," he added

In fact, this year it was Lapthorne who has broadcast live on BBC TV for the inaugural Wimbledon quad doubles and singles finals, with Fox Sports in Australia among those broadcasting live to fans Down Under as Alcott made his own Wimbledon history to enhance his reputation as a star on and off the courts.

The Rio Paralympic champion arrived in London within days of winning a ‘Logie’, an Australian national TV award. On accepting the award, as he has done when accepting any of his five Australian Open quad singles trophies on Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park, Alcott spoke eloquently and enthusiastically about wanting to change perceptions of disabled people.

“I really am the luckiest guy in the world. Definition of a dream come true. An incredible honour to win the first quad singles match ever played at Wimbledon today,” said Alcott on social media after his semifinal victory over Sugeno.

Two days later he had emulated the likes of Leyton Hewitt - one of Lapthorne’s childhood heroes – and Rod Laver - another of Alcott’s all-time heroes – by winning Wimbledon. In his post-match media conference Alcott credited the introduction of quad singles and doubles events at Roland Garros and Wimbledon as having been the driving force to helping him back towards some of his very best form.

“I don't think I would be playing very well if we didn't get into Roland Garros or Wimbledon,” said Alcott. “When we found that out, oh, I'm back. I’ve got my own TV show, radio show, foundation, consulting company that gets good access. We do all these things, have a life as well.

He added: “I block out my calendar from 8am till midday every day. If you want to pay me a truck full of money to do a keynote, I still don't do it. I want to play tennis. That was the deal. We've stuck to that and it shows, doesn't it? I'm back playing 2016 Rio tennis. That's because we stuck to the plan. That's because we got in here and because we got into Roland Garros. That's the reason.

“For the All England Club to back us in, for us not to let them down, I guess, you know what I mean, I really trained hard for this because I wanted to, like, take that opportunity and say thank you,” continued Alcott. “The quality of the tennis was super high. As I said, to the All England Club, Wimbledon, LTA, ITF, whoever had the influence, thank you so much because it's a privilege, I guess.”

With Alcott becoming the first quad wheelchair tennis player to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles at the same time – an achievement that Wimbledon’s’ social media channels dubbed ‘the Dylan Slam’, he is now three-quarters of the way to completing the calendar year Grand Slam and has his sights firmly on aiming for a third US Open title.

“I'm going to be working my butt off to win the US Open. I hope everybody else is, too. Then we can put on another show,” said Alcott.

“The Dylan Slam is cool, but no one cares as much unless you win the Grand Slam, which is all in one year. I put pressure on myself by saying at the Australian Open I want to win the Grand Slam. People might think I was stupid, but I was like, ‘That's what I want to do’. That's why I get out of bed every morning, been boxing, training, doing everything because I want to win that Rod Laver Grand Slam in a calendar year.”

While winning Grand Slam titles and creating tennis history is, in Alcott’s view, ‘cool’, he remains acutely aware of the wider picture and further motivation for giving of his best. He said:

“I think the thing I'm most proud of is the way we've rebranded the sport to try and get a change of perception of what people have with a disability.

“To be able to do a speech and see young kids get out there, see full stadiums. I guess I hate the word 'inspire'. But to show not only young people with a disability what they can do, but mainly able-bodied people, what people with a disability can do. That's what I'm most proud of.”