Davidson excited for “unreal” Australian wheelchair summer

The Australian Wheelchair Tennis Summer Series 2026 will feature three new wheelchair events, giving players an opportunity to play in more cities ahead of the Australian Open this January.

The tournaments will be integrated into the United Cup, Brisbane International and Adelaide International schedules, bolstering the traditional AO lead-in calendar.

On this week’s episode of The Sit-Down podcast, four-time Australian Open quad doubles champion and two-time Paralympic medallist, Heath Davidson, shared his enthusiasm for the upcoming additions.

“It’s unreal. I’m super excited to be a part of it and just can’t wait to see what happens after that,” he said.

“I think of the wheelchair tour next year, there’s 14 or 16 integrated events across the year, so that’s pretty crazy considering we used to have to pay to play the Grand Slams.”

A role model in the sport, Davidson reflected on the evolution of the sport over the course of his own tennis story.

“We’ve come a long way and I’m just happy to be a part of the growth and happy to give back to the next generation that are coming up and gonna start beating me,” the former world No.3 shared.

“Back when we were kids, we never saw it on TV. I didn’t know there was wheelchair tennis growing up.”

Davidson first picked up a racquet at age 14 with his friend-turned-doubles partner Dylan Alcott. Their first coach, Marco Persi, had never coached wheelchair tennis, but agreed to do so if the boys wanted to play.

“He’d never really had anything to do with anyone with a disability before, but he said it can’t be too hard,” Davidson explained.

“He treated us like everybody else, which I think was a really amazing thing back in those days. I think these days it’s a lot more prevalent in society.”

PODCAST: Listen to Heath Davidson on The Sit-Down

Little did they know it would be the start of the journeys of two future Paralympic medallists and Grand Slam champions. Together the duo would win four Australian Open titles plus Paralympic gold and silver medals.

“Dylan knew that if he could make me just feel like a Saturday hit down at Moorabbin Indoor, he was going to get the best out of me,” Davidson said.

“We never put pressure on each other. It was always if I missed 500 forehands he didn’t care and if he missed 1000 volleys I didn’t care. We were always going to be mates afterwards so it was just cool we got to do that together.”

Davidson says the support wheelchair tennis has received in Australia is the reason the sport is able to develop, paving the way for others to follow.  

“Australian Open was the first Slam to have wheelchair tennis, we’re the first Slam to have Centre Court matches, and we’re the first slam to go to 16 [player draws]. We’re always first to do things and I think that has a lot to do with the success that we’ve had over the journey,” the 2023 Wimbledon finalist said.

“We have had a lot of great wheelchair tennis players and that’s cool to see that a little country down at the bottom of the world surrounded by so much water can have so much influence on the sport and just life in general.”

Despite all the accolades, Davidson admits if it were up to him, he would leave his trophies hidden away in his garage.

His love for the sport is what motivates him to keep playing.    

“I love doing what I do, but I don’t necessarily think about that stuff,” he said. “I just enjoy being out there and competing and hopefully I can keep doing it for a while.”

Listen to the full episode of The Sit-Down, a weekly podcast released each Monday featuring an in-depth interview with a notable tennis identity. Subscribe to The Sit-Down in your favourite podcast player.