Tennis needs to recognize outstanding years for Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott

Dylan Alcott (YouTube)

We all know what a wonderful season Novak Djokovic had. Winning three grand slams in one season is a remarkable feat. However, he was not the tennis player who won the most grand slams in 2021. In wheelchair tennis, Australia’s Dylan Alcott won the golden slam in quad singles action, while the Netherlands’s Diede de Groot won the golden slam in women’s action. No one has ever won the golden slam in the history of wheelchair tennis until now.

So what is precisely the golden slam in wheelchair tennis? That is by winning all four majors in the same year (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the United States Open) as well as the Paralympic Games.

Alcott and de Groot achieved wheelchair tennis history at the United States Open this past weekend. Alcott of Melbourne won the U.S. Open quad event final by beating Niels Vink of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-2 in the final. de Groot won the U.S. Open women’s final by beating Yui Kamiji of Japan 6-3, 6-2.

Alcott is the most successful quad tennis player of all-time. During the 2019 wheelchair tennis season, Alcott won the season grand slam with three different doubles partners–Andy Lapthorne of Great Britain, Heath Davidson of Australia, and David Wagner of the United States. However this is the first time a quad player has won all four major tennis events in the same year.

Alcott has been a trailblazer in wheelchair tennis. He fought extensively to have the event included at the 2020 U.S. Open after it was initially cancelled from the program. Alcott’s efforts paid off, but he was surprisingly beaten by Sam Schroder of the Netherlands 7-6, 0-6, 6-4 in the quad final. This was the only major singles quad event that Alcott has not won in the last two years.

It has now been four days since Alcott and de Groot have made tennis history. The international tennis world should promote Alcott and de Groot more and recognize their outstanding achievements in wheelchair tennis at a higher level.