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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 13, 2019

Dylan Alcott

Wimbledon, London, England

D. ALCOTT/A. Lapthorne

6-0, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How do you assess winning the first ever quad wheelchair Grand Slam title on grass at Wimbledon?
DYLAN ALCOTT: Pretty awesome, man. Yeah, it was unbelievable. Normally I think my coach Francois never played a match like I play at home. Does that make sense? You always train, like when no one is there, you play way better. In big matches it's hard to replicate that.

I played the same as I play at home when I'm playing Francois today. Like, I just played awesome. I was so solid, hitting winners. When I play like that it's tough to beat.

I felt a bit bad for Lapo. Obviously I was really on, he was a bit nervous with the crowd and things. I was just looking around thinking, We're at Wimbledon.

You get big crowds in Australia. At the Australian Open it's amazing. There was a full stadium at Wimbledon on grass watching. 70% of the people there were from Australia. It was unbelievable. That was so cool, to go away and have a crowd like that.

I think you could tell I had a pep in my step from the start. That was because of the vibe, it was a beautiful day. The grass was beautiful. I was like, Wow, this is sick. I'm really going to enjoy myself.

I'm trending on Twitter at home. Like, you know, the AFL is on at the moment, and the NRL. I'm trending with them. People care and watch now. I love that, you know what I mean? So cool.

Q. With that atmosphere, being able to tap into that, produce your best tennis, is that something you can take with you now in other big matches when you go back to Australia?
DYLAN ALCOTT: I always play better in Rod Laver Arena than I do on Court 18. Or if I play the Japan Open, there's no one there, I play bad. I'm better when there's a bit of vibe.

To get out there today, see everyone there, I was like, How cool is that? I was really happy. It was nice to play Lapo. We're mates. It was good to share that opportunity with him.

Had a great morning, had a great week with my team. Everything was perfect this week. I love being here.

I just want to know who I need to sleep with or hang out with to get a membership, the All England Club, so I'm very excited. That was a joke (smiling).

As I said, something about being at Wimbledon is so cool, you know what I mean? I love it.

Q. Talk us through how much has changed since that first victory. How far has wheelchair tennis come?
DYLAN ALCOTT: My dad said, Congratulations on your eighth Grand Slam. I said, That's nine, champion (laughter).

Oh, I mean, I can't even remember compared to, like, now. Before Melbourne Park was reno'ed, it was like Court 8 out there, maybe had 500 seats. It was probably half full. You know what I mean?

Now it's, like, Court 12 has a lot of seats, pretty much full. Rod Laver Arena back home, half full. TV, it was on FOX Sports. Had it on the 7 app, BBC played it. It's just crazy. It's so cool.

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. You know what I mean? The quality of the tennis was super high.

I meant what I said in my speech: dream come true to be here. Wearing the whites, strawberries and cream, everyone drinking Pimm's. It was so cool. Am I allowed to say Pimm's? I did anyway.

Q. With the win, all the statistics and records you set: you're undefeated this year, three-quarters of the way to a calendar slam, you now hold all four major titles at one, your ninth slam, first Wimbledon. Of all of those achievements with this win, which do you like the most?
DYLAN ALCOTT: Probably the Logie (laughter). Just kidding. It's not actually.

That's so tough, man. You know, Wimbledon just put out on their Instagram and Twitter the Dylan Slam. That sounds all right, doesn't it?

I think the thing I'm most proud of is the way we've or personally rebranded the sport to try and get a change of perception of what people have with a disability. That's what I'm most proud of. I love winning the slams because I love what it does for me. I love winning them, as well.

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.

In Australia, people used to stare at me because I was in a wheelchair. Now they stare at you because you're Dylan Alcott and know who you are. That's like the coolest thing because they could not care that I'm in a wheelchair.

Today, everyone there did not care I was in a wheelchair. They're like, How good is this match? How good is he playing? He's a good bloke. Whatever it is. Debatable about the 'good bloke' (laughter).

I mean, but in saying that, 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.

One more to go, baby. Glad I didn't drop the bottle here. See what happens.

Q. I know it's your first year here. Actually felt like watching all of the matches that you guys have been ripping up those grass courts for centuries basically. What can you tell me about the quality of the tennis?
DYLAN ALCOTT: For sure. You know what, I know the quality has been high. I've been telling everyone that for a while. I train four to five hours a day, six days a week. I bust my backside to be good at tennis. I am good at tennis. We just showed that we're good at tennis.

The grass is so beautiful to play on. It's so well-kept here. It's not like bumpy where you fall out of your chair. That's like playing on a shopping center floor. It's beautiful.

A big heritage of great grass court tennis in Australia. To show that wheelchair tennis players can play grass court tennis, too, was a big goal of mine.

As I said, I was impressed with the quality, as well. Like yesterday, that doubles was good. I was having fun. I was like, We're spanking it, all of us. You know what I mean? Actually, I'm really glad we played that doubles yesterday because I played really well yesterday. I went to bed thinking, Man, I'm just going to play like that in the singles. That gave me that confidence.

It's fun slicing and dicing. I got good hands. Knocking around with the ball is a lot of fun on grass.

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.

Q. You were just talking about the number of titles, the majors, things like that. Obviously you mentioned that Logie. Where do you sit all the trophies? Does that Logie sit in the middle of the majors?
DYLAN ALCOTT: That's a great question. Chantelle, my partner, will agree, the Logie is currently on the coffee table. We laugh at it every time we see it. We're like, How did you win a Logie? What the hell. There's a few at my mum's house, a few at my dad's house.

It sounds weird, but I like using the trophy. You get a Tiffany crystal vase at the US Open. Why not put delicious, beautiful flowers in it, like we do? We actually use them. And it's cool. Then they're around the house. You don't look like as much of a wanker as well (smiling).

Yeah, this one means, Wimbledon... I love the Australian Open, it's five minutes from my house. But this is the Holy Grail of tennis, isn't it? You know what I mean? I think the Wimbledon trophy, we'll be ditching the Logie. Sorry TV Week, if you're listening.

Q. It's got a different look, quad wheelchair tennis on grass. Talk us through the tactics, how different it is compared to the other surfaces.
DYLAN ALCOTT: Yeah, it's got a different look in all wheelchair tennis, shorter points, hard to push. That court today, I'm not sure if that court had ever been played on. Like that was MCG grass. That was Lord's grass.

It was thick, hard to push. I work hard on my chair skills. I had a little pep in my step when I got out of there. Oh, this is very good for Dylan.

The other courts, like Court 14 to 17, where we were playing, are a bit more worn. So they're a bit like hard court tennis. That was proper grass court tennis.

My coach Francois and I said, This is very Dylan. To be able to manip the ball, keep it low. Also I think variation is key on grass, same as able-bodied. Variation, as my French coach says. Can't understand him.

You slice one, the wheelchair comes in, heavy topspin, you have to go out. But it's hard to push. I think that change of pace is the big difference. I'm lucky that I have kind of a full range of shots that I can play. I'm not just kind of spanking it around all the time.

Yeah, I think it suits me quite well. Clearly, when you win a slam Love-2 in a final like that... I didn't realize it suited me that well. I haven't played enough on it. Never been here before.

Yeah, it's definitely cool.

Q. The Dylan Slam is lovely, but you want to do the same as Rod Laver. Can anyone stop you getting to that calendar slam?
DYLAN ALCOTT: Oh, for sure. I mean, you can always lose a match, definitely. I'm not telling you I'm that good.

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

It wasn't that tennis was going down that list, but it was still top when it happened, but it stayed top proper. I block out my calendar from 8 a.m. 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.

You need things to get out of bed to do. I'm not the kind of guy to play 10 more years of tennis if I don't want to get out of bed and do it. I have so much else going on. But right now, I'm loving getting out of bed and playing tennis.

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.

I don't think ESPN has put on wheelchair tennis yet. ESPN, you're up next.

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