After 15 grand slams, three Paralympic golds, and becoming one of three professional tennis players to hold a Golden Slam title, sporting legend and GOAT Dylan Alcott has announced he’s retiring from tennis after the Australian Open tournament this summer.
Before he retires from the professional tennis courts for good, the 30-year-old will be chasing his eighth straight Aus Open title. Which would mean taking out another big win in front of a home crowd in Melbourne – a hell of a high to go out on. Can’t get much better than that, can you.
The announcement comes shortly after he competed at the Tokyo Paralympics over late August, where he brought home gold in the quad singles and silver in the quad doubles alongside Heath Davidson.
He’s clearly going out on a high here, because there’s really not much more one can do when you’ve locked yourself into the tennis world’s GOAT status with a Golden Slam. May as well ride the high, my dude.
The last dance 🇦🇺 🏆 🙌 @DylanAlcott has officially announced his retirement and will play his final tournament at #AO2022.
One last ride for the 7x #AusOpen singles champion. pic.twitter.com/zadSwoREGm
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) November 9, 2021
Though he’s already got a bunch of things on his plate around his TV presenting work on ABC’s The Set, his fully-accessible music festival Ability Fest (which is set to be the first major music festival to return to Victoria), and the wider Dylan Alcott Foundation, he told PEDESTRIAN.TV that he wants to explore the acting world after he puts down the tennis racquet.
“I want to do some acting,” he said in a cheeky DM, with a wink emoticon.
WITH A WINK EMOTICON, PEOPLE.
Honestly, I was looking forward to Dylan picking up the tools and becoming a tradie in his sporting retirement, but I’ll gladly accept him doing a DIY segment role on Gardening Australia.
Post tennis I’m thinking of becoming a wheelchair tradie… Might need some help with the upstairs and roof painting but HIT ME UP #TheBlock 💰💰
— Dylan Alcott (@DylanAlcott) November 7, 2021
Whatever pies the man gets his hands into after puts the fuzzy balls away following next year’s tournament, I’m sure it’ll be golden.
Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll be clearing my calendar and playing my cards right so I can be in the stands for his last game on the court.
