Dylan Alcott facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Dylan Alcott
AO

2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Alcott
Country (sports)	Australia
Residence	Hampton East, Victoria
Born	(1990-12-04) 4 December 1990 (age 34) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Turned pro	2014
Retired	2022
Plays	Quad, right-handed
Singles
Career record	245–55 (81.67%)
Highest ranking	No. 1 (29 June 2015)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
French Open	W (2019, 2020, 2021)
Wimbledon	W (2019, 2021)
US Open	W (2015, 2018, 2021)
Other tournaments
Masters	W (2018)
Paralympic Games	W (2016, 2021)
Doubles
Career record	108–46 (70.13%)
Highest ranking	No. 1 (9 September 2019)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)
French Open	W (2019)
Wimbledon	W (2019)
US Open	W (2019, 2020)
Other doubles tournaments
Paralympic Games	W (2016)
Dylan Alcott Dandenong Rangers Guard Career information Pro career 2004–2012 League National Wheelchair Basketball League (NWBL) Career highlights and awards NWBL Low Point MVP (2010) 4x Wheelchair Sports Victoria Junior Athlete of the Year (2004–2006 and 2008) Junior National Championships MVP (2010) Dandenong Rangers Most Improved Player (2007)
Medal record Representing  Australia Men's wheelchair tennis Paralympic Games Gold 2016 Rio de Janeiro Quad singles Gold 2016 Rio de Janeiro Quad doubles Gold 2020 Tokyo Quad singles Silver 2020 Tokyo Quad doubles Men's wheelchair basketball Paralympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing Team Silver 2012 London Team World Championship Gold 2010 Birmingham Team Bronze 2006 Amsterdam Team

Dylan Alcott is an amazing Australian athlete, speaker, and TV host. He was born on December 4, 1990. Dylan is famous for being a champion in both wheelchair tennis and wheelchair basketball.

He was part of the Australian men's national wheelchair basketball team, called the "Rollers." At just 17 years old, he won a gold medal with the Rollers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. This made him the youngest gold medalist in wheelchair basketball.

Later, in 2014, Dylan switched back to wheelchair tennis. His goal was to compete in the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio. He achieved this and won two gold medals there: one for Men's Quad Singles and another for Doubles. Because of his incredible success, he was named the 2016 Australian Paralympian of the Year.

Dylan Alcott is the only male tennis player to achieve the Golden Slam in quad singles. This means he won all four major tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open) and the Paralympics in the same year (2021). He also completed a Grand Slam in quad doubles in 2019, winning all four major titles.

Beyond sports, Dylan has been a radio host on Triple J and a TV host for shows like The Set. In 2022, he was honored as Australian of the Year and received the Officer of the Order of Australia award.

Dylan's Early Life & School

Dylan Alcott was born in Melbourne, Australia, on December 4, 1990. When he was a baby, he had an operation to remove a tumor near his spinal cord. The surgery was successful, but it meant Dylan would use a wheelchair.

He went to Brighton Grammar School from Year 6. While at school, he was a talented athlete. He competed in swimming for Victoria and in wheelchair tennis and basketball for Australia. Dylan finished school in 2008.

His first favorite sport was wheelchair tennis. By the time he was 16, he was ranked among the top 100 players in the world. He was also ranked 4th globally for players under 18.

Dylan's Basketball Career

Dylan Alcott playing wheelchair basketball against Great Britain.

Dylan started playing wheelchair basketball when he was 14. He joined the Australian men's national wheelchair basketball team, the Rollers, in 2006. That year, the team won a bronze medal at the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship.

Dylan continued to play well and was part of the Rollers team that went to the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. He helped the team win a gold medal there. Dylan said that winning gold at 17 was an amazing feeling. For this achievement, he received a Medal of the Order of Australia.

In 2009, Dylan went to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign on a scholarship. He won a college championship with their wheelchair basketball team. After a year, he returned to Melbourne to train for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.

In 2010, Dylan and the Rollers won their first-ever Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in England. Dylan was even named one of the top five players in the tournament. At the 2012 London Paralympics, Dylan's team won a silver medal.

Dylan's Tennis Career

Dylan Alcott playing at the 2014 Swiss Open in Geneva.

In 2014, Dylan decided to focus on wheelchair tennis again. He had been a top junior player when he was younger. In July 2014, he won his first major title, the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championship. He beat the world number three player, Andy Lapthorne.

In January 2015, Dylan won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. He defeated David Wagner in the final. By the end of 2015, he was ranked number one in the world. He had won eight titles that year, including two Grand Slam singles titles.

At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, Dylan and his partner Heath Davidson won the gold medal in Men's Quad Doubles. They beat the defending champions, David Wagner and Nick Taylor. The very next day, Dylan won another gold medal in the Men's Quad Singles event.

In 2018, Dylan won his first Wheelchair Tennis Masters title in the Quad singles.

The Golden Slam: A Historic Achievement in 2021

In 2021, Dylan Alcott made history by achieving the calendar-year Golden Slam. This means he won all four major tennis tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open) and the singles gold medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in the same year. He was only the third professional tennis player ever to do this, and the first male player.

After winning the Paralympic gold medal, Dylan announced he would retire from the Paralympics. In November 2021, he shared that he would retire from professional tennis after the Australian Open in January 2022.

Life Beyond Sports

Dylan Alcott has also had a successful career in television. He hosted Invictus Games Today and the ABC music show The Set. He even won a Logie award, which is a big TV award in Australia.

Dylan has a degree in Commerce from the University of Melbourne. He now works as a motivational speaker, inspiring many people. He also hosts a radio show on Triple J. In his free time, Dylan enjoys going to music festivals. He is known for his "wheelchair crowdsurfing" at these events!

In 2018, Dylan started Ability Fest, a music festival designed to be accessible for everyone. It has special pathways for wheelchairs, quiet areas for people with sensory disabilities, and Auslan (Australian Sign Language) interpreters.

Dylan's advice to young people with a disability is: "For every one thing you can't do, there are 10,000 others you can. For every one idiot to give you a hard time, there are 10,000 others worth your time."

In 2017, Dylan started the Dylan Alcott Foundation. Its goal is to help young Australians with disabilities feel good about themselves through sports and education. He was also chosen as the Australian Patron for International Day of People with Disability.

Dylan wrote an autobiography called Able: Gold Medals, Grand Slams and Smashing Glass Ceilings. It was published in 2018. He also recorded the audiobook himself. Dylan's partner is Chantelle Otten.

Tennis Grand Slam Finals

Quad Singles: 18 Finals (15 Wins, 3 Runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	2015	Australian Open	Hard	David Wagner	6–2, 6–3
Win	2015	US Open	Hard	David Wagner	6–1, 4–6, 7–5
Win	2016	Australian Open (2)	Hard	David Wagner	6–2, 6–2
Win	2017	Australian Open (3)	Hard	Andy Lapthorne	6–2, 6–2
Win	2018	Australian Open (4)	Hard	David Wagner	7–6, 6–1
Win	2018	US Open (2)	Hard	David Wagner	7–5, 6–2
Win	2019	Australian Open (5)	Hard	David Wagner	6–4, 7–6(7–2)
Win	2019	French Open	Clay	David Wagner	6–2, 4–6, 6–2
Win	2019	Wimbledon	Grass	Andy Lapthorne	6–0, 6–2
Loss	2019	US Open	Hard	Andy Lapthorne	1–6, 0–6
Win	2020	Australian Open (6)	Hard	Andy Lapthorne	6–0, 6–4
Loss	2020	US Open	Hard	Sam Schröder	6–7(5–7), 6–0, 4–6
Win	2020	French Open (2)	Clay	Andy Lapthorne	6–2, 6–2
Win	2021	Australian Open (7)	Hard	Sam Schröder	6–1, 6–0
Win	2021	French Open (3)	Clay	Sam Schröder	6–4, 6–2
Win	2021	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Sam Schröder	6–2, 6–2
Win	2021	US Open (3)	Hard	Niels Vink	7–5, 6–2
Loss	2022	Australian Open	Hard	Sam Schröder	5–7, 0–6

Quad Doubles: 19 Finals (8 Wins, 11 Runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2014	Australian Open	Hard	Lucas Sithole	Andy Lapthorne David Wagner	4–6, 4–6
Loss	2015	Australian Open	Hard	Lucas Sithole	Andy Lapthorne David Wagner	0–6, 6–3, 2–6
Loss	2015	US Open	Hard	Andy Lapthorne	Nicholas Taylor David Wagner	6–4, 2–6, [7–10]
Loss	2016	Australian Open	Hard	Andy Lapthorne	Lucas Sithole David Wagner	1–6, 3–6
Loss	2017	Australian Open	Hard	Heath Davidson	Andy Lapthorne David Wagner	3–6, 3–6
Loss	2017	US Open	Hard	Bryan Barten	Andy Lapthorne David Wagner	5–7, 2–6
Win	2018	Australian Open	Hard	Heath Davidson	Andy Lapthorne David Wagner	6–0, 6–7(5–7), [10–6]
Loss	2018	US Open	Hard	Bryan Barten	Andy Lapthorne David Wagner	6–3, 0–6, [4–10]
Win	2019	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Heath Davidson	Andy Lapthorne David Wagner	6–3, 6–7(6–8), [12–10]
Win	2019	French Open	Clay	David Wagner	Ymanitu Silva Koji Sugeno	6–3, 6–3
Win	2019	Wimbledon	Grass	Andy Lapthorne	Koji Sugeno David Wagner	6–2, 7–6(7–4)
Win	2019	US Open	Hard	Andy Lapthorne	Bryan Barten David Wagner	6–7(5–7), 6–1, [10–6]
Win	2020	Australian Open (3)	Hard	Heath Davidson	Andy Lapthorne David Wagner	6–4, 6–3
Win	2020	US Open (2)	Hard	Andy Lapthorne	Sam Schröder David Wagner	3–6, 6–4, [10–8]
Loss	2020	French Open	Clay	Andy Lapthorne	Sam Schröder David Wagner	6–4, 5–7, [8–10]
Win	2021	Australian Open (4)	Hard	Heath Davidson	Andy Lapthorne David Wagner	6–2, 3–6, [10–7]
Loss	2021	French Open	Clay	Sam Schröder	Andy Lapthorne David Wagner	6–7(1–7), 6–4, [7–10]
Loss	2021	Wimbledon	Grass	Sam Schröder	Andy Lapthorne David Wagner	1–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss	2021	US Open	Hard	Heath Davidson	Sam Schröder Niels Vink	3–6, 2–6

Paralympic Gold Medal Matches

Quad Singles: 2 (2 Gold Medals)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Gold	2016	Summer Paralympics	Hard	Andy Lapthorne	6–3, 6–4
Gold	2021	Summer Paralympics (2)	Hard	Sam Schröder	7–6(7–2), 6–1

Quad Doubles: 2 (1 Gold Medal, 1 Silver Medal)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Gold	2016	Summer Paralympics	Hard	Heath Davidson	Nick Taylor David Wagner	4–6, 6–4, 7–5
Silver	2021	Summer Paralympics	Hard	Heath Davidson	Sam Schröder Niels Vink	4–6, 3–6

Awards and Recognition

Dylan Alcott has received many awards for his achievements:

• 2009 – Medal of the Order of Australia
• 2015 – Tennis Australia Most Outstanding Athlete with a Disability
• 2016 – Governor's Award for Victorian Sportsperson of the Year
• 2016 – Australian Paralympian of the Year and Australian Male Paralympian of the Year
• 2016 – Tennis Australia Awards – Newcombe Medal and shared the Most Outstanding Athlete with a Disability with doubles partner Heath Davidson
• 2018 – International Tennis Federation Quad Wheelchair World Champion
• 2019 – Logie Awards – Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent
• 2019 – Victorian Institute of Sport Elite Athlete with a Disability Award
• 2019 – Tennis Australia Most Outstanding Athlete with a Disability
• 2021 – Governor's Award Victorian Male Athlete of the Year – Frank Wilkes Award
• 2022 – Australian of the Year
• 2022 – Officer of the Order of Australia for his great work in Paralympic sport, especially tennis, and for being a role model for people with disabilities.

See also

In Spanish: Dylan Alcott para niños