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Legendary Alcott captures singles gold at Tokyo Paralympics

  • Matt Trollope

World No.1 Dylan Alcott has cemented his place among the wheelchair tennis greats after winning Paralympic singles gold in Tokyo.

The Australian defeated Sam Schroder 7-6(2) 6-1 to earn a second Paralympic quad singles gold after winning the title in Rio 2016 – the same year he also won doubles gold with Heath Davidson.

The victory over Schroder keeps Alcott on track for a majestic Golden Grand Slam; earlier in 2021 he won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon singles titles.

He will play for that achievement at the upcoming US Open, where he was a finalist the past two years.

Schroder entered the match confident after having combined with fellow Dutchman Niels Vink to beat Alcott and Davidson in the quad doubles gold medal match earlier in the week in Tokyo.

And it showed when he surged to a 5-3 lead in the opening set, as he looked to repeat his stunning upset of the Australian in last year’s US Open final.

But Alcott has built confidence of his own thanks to a sparkling win-loss record of 17-1 in 2021, including victories over Schroder in all three major finals.

He rebounded strongly, winning 10 of the final 12 games of the match.

“That was the hardest tournament I’ve ever played. I feel like an old ancient man. I’m in agony,” said Alcott, who was stretched to three gruelling sets in the semifinals by Vink.

“At 5-3 I wasn’t having much fun. But I went: ‘This is actually fun. This is your domain. You love this. So start loving it.’ And I did.

"I’m just so thankful and grateful that I was able to get it done.”

Incredibly, Alcott now owns four Paralympic gold medals; he was part of the winning Australian basketball team at the 2008 Beijing games.

"I'm not coming back to the Paralympics ever again," said an emotional Alcott, who turns 31 later this year.

"I love the Paralympic Games so much, it means so much to me. When I was 17, I got to go over (to Beijing) with the Rollers and we won gold, and it was life-changing.

"Paralympic sport in general, it saved my life ... it was the best thing that ever happened to me."