‘I Hated Myself Growing up’: Dylan Alcott Delivers Heart-Warming Speech After Reaching Semis at Australian Open 2022

It has been a great week of tennis at the Australian Open with both ATP and WTA stars making their mark at the year’s first Grand Slam event along with a few disappointments. But, if we draw our attention towards wheelchair singles, the legendary Dylan Alcott will be bidding goodbye to the sport after the event.

While it will be truly legendary to see Alcott end his career on a high by winning the Australian Open crown, he was pushed to his limits by the 19-year old Niels Vink, who had to fight not just Dylan but also had to go against the crowd.

Dylan Alcott thanks his family for their continual support after reaching semis at Australian Open

In the end, the vast experience of Dylan Alcott proved fruitful as he defeated Niels to advance to the semi-finals of Quad wheel chair singles event. Talking about his victory and what it meant to have a sea of support from fans at the Kia Arena, Dylan mentioned his player support box consisting of his family members to be one of the biggest reasons for him to scale heights.

“It’s everybody getting around it. I hated myself growing up and the reason I don’t is them(pointing towards his box)”. 

In his usual funny self, Alcott also praised fans for turning up for his match. He also appreciated Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis for pumping the fans earlier today with their doubles victory.

“Melbourne, we deserved this. I’m just thankful and grateful that everybody came here to watch me. Kia Arena is awesome. Thanks for Nick and Thansi for warming it up for me. Appreciate it.”

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Dylan wants to enjoy the last few moments going forward at the Australian Open

Towards the end, Alcott was grateful and found himself to be fortunate enough to play tennis and get the love and affection from various fans across the world.

“I really don’t care about the win. I just want to celebrate how awesome this is for disabled sport, wheelchair tennis, Paralympians everywhere. I started enjoying myself a little bit more. That’s gonna be one of my rules moving forward. It’s just to enjoy the moment. I’m never gonna be back out here.”

After the Australian Open, Dylan Alcott will retire from the sport and we just hope that he continues to associate with the ‘happy slam’ in one capacity or the other.

Also read: All You Need to Know About the Rising French-American Tennis Star Who is Making Headlines at Australian Open 2022