Aussie Tennis Legend Dylan Alcott Is Retiring
"I’ve known this day was coming for a while."
Grand Slam champion and Paralympic gold medalist Dylan Alcott has announced he is retiring from tennis after the 2022 Australian Open in January.
In an announcement on Tuesday morning, Alcott confirmed that his final tournament will be the Australian Open, noting that he wanted to retire after a final hurrah in front of local fans.
“I feel like I’ve done everything I need to do on the tennis court. I’ve known this day was coming for a while,” he said in a press conference at Melbourne Park on Tuesday. “The way Australia has gotten behind an athlete with a disability has been phenomenal and I hope it will inspire the next generation.”
His final match will take place in his home city of Melbourne.
If he manages to secure a victory at the 2022 Australian Open, it will be his eighth successive title, which is no small feat. Alcott has won a total of 23 Grand Slam titles and made history as the first male player to win the calendar-year Golden Slam earlier this year. At just 30 years of age, Alcott is widely regarded as one of the most successful tennis players of all time.
Alcott had already announced his retirement from Paralympic sport after his glorious gold win at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, but has now made it clear he will retire from the sport entirely. In addition to a wildly successful career in sport — including four Paralympic golds and two silvers across both tennis and basketball — Alcott has enjoyed a thriving career as a motivational speaker and radio host.
Thankfully, Alcott will continue his work on things like Ability Fest in his post-sporting career, so this is hardly the last we’ll see from everyone’s favourite man in tennis.
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