By Erik Gudris | Thursday, January 27 2022
Plenty of tears flowed during and after the final career match of all-time great wheelchair champion Dylan Alcott at this year’s Australian Open.
That included during Alcott’s press conference when he received a special text message from another major champion, Andy Murray.
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Alcott ended his remarkable career as he attempted to win an eighth straight Australian Open quad wheelchair men’s title. But, it was not meant to be.
No. 2 seed Sam Schroder defeated the top-seeded Alcott 7-5, 6-0 to win his second career major title.
The loss did not dampen the celebration of the 31-year-old Alcott’s incredible career that includes winning 23 quad major titles. Alcott is also the first player to ever win a “Golden Slam” in any form of tennis during his stellar 2021 season. He was also recently named as the Australian of the Year for 2022.
After his match, Alcott received praise for many members of the tennis community. That included a congratulatory text from Andy Murray during his press conference.
Alcott was speaking about how proud he is to be an advocate for wheelchair players and the community before he received Murray’s text.
“Here you go, this just sums up how it’s changed,” Alcott said. “I hope he doesn’t mind this but Andy Murray just messaged me “I don’t know if I’ve articulated it that well but you’re an absolute rockstar and inspiration, thanks for everything that you’ve done.”
“That kills me, it makes me want to cry,” he continued. It’s special, just like, you’re a part of it. It’s like that everywhere man, I never thought that would happen.”
Australia's support of Alcott, who was named Australian of the Year, was evident as its Channel 9 delayed the start of its 6 p.m. newscast so that fans could see Alcott's final match.
“Delaying the 6 pm News is a significant decision, we have done it previously for important national events including sporting events," the network said in a statement. "In this instance we knew the overwhelming interest and support from our audience for Dylan Alcott and his final appearance at Melbourne Park in an Australian Open Final justified our decision.
“Our News team adjusted the bulletin to allow us to inform our audience on the important news of the day before going to the Ash Barty women’s semifinals night."
Photo credit: Getty