Dylan Alcott enjoying last hurrah as he sets up final shot at yet more grand slam glory

Dylan Alcott wheels out of the tunnel and into Kia Arena, either talking to himself or bopping to an unheard beat. Cap backwards, signature Nike kicks, ready to roll. One match stands between him and the Australian Open final – his last before retirement – and he is serving first against Britain’s Andy Lapthorne.

“Good serve, Dyl,” he says to himself after the opening point when Lapthorne overcooks his return. Alcott has no problem telling anyone exactly how he is feeling. That includes his opponents, and a couple of games later, right before he breaks Lapthorne’s serve, he booms down the court “Good job, Dyl”. The celebrations only grow louder the closer he edges towards the 6-3, 6-0 victory. His penultimate wheelchair tennis match, period.

Not many people can get away with referring to themselves in the third person. Alcott somehow does, perhaps partly because of his self-deprecating humour, but also partly because of what he has come to represent.

Few match the Australian’s drive to reshape perceptions around disability. Among the projects to which he dedicates his time and his name are the Dylan Alcott Foundation, Get Skilled Access and AbilityFest – Australia’s first accessible and fully inclusive music festival (he has also crowd surfed at Coachella, in his chair).

He is Victoria’s nomination for Australian of the year and will find out on Tuesday night if he has won the big one (“I think I’m no chance … I think Patty Mills is going to win”).

In many ways he already has. His resume reads 15 grand slam quad singles titles and a further eight in doubles. In 2021 he became the first man in history to achieve a golden slam of all four major singles titles as well as Paralympic gold.

He has been Australian Open champion