Australian wheelchair tennis king Dylan Alcott has made a supreme defence of his quad singles crown, leaving his fellow Wimbledon champ Ash Barty to declare she'd be seeking out her fun-loving Melbourne mate for a joint celebration.
Alcott moved ever closer to a potential calendar year "golden slam" of titles after landing his third grand slam triumph of the year on Saturday, completing his 6-2 6-2 final victory over his biggest current rival, Dutchman Sam Schroder, just before Barty took to Centre Court for her final.
And after completing her three-set win over Karolina Pliskova, Barty, asked how she planned to celebrate, said with a smile: "Dylan did have a win today - so I'm sure I'll go and find him and we'll 'cheers' and have a good night!"
The pair often train at the same venue with Alcott telling AAP: "She's a bloody legend. From when she was a nobody to now, the best player in the world, she's exactly the same.
"We had a coffee upstairs the other day and you just wouldn't know she was the world No 1 about to win Wimbledon, she's just so chilled."
While he's just so pumped.
After his successes at the Australian Open and recent French Open, 30-year-old Alcott was left on another high as he now sets his sights on Tokyo for the Paralympics and, if successful there, will then hope to complete the five-title "golden slam" at the US Open.
"I'm cooked! That was hard," he told a good sized crowd on Court No.3.
"If that went three sets, I'm in big trouble. But I just love Wimbledon, I get emotional thinking about it here. To me, it's been a privilege .... a dual Wimbledon champion!
"There were some Aussies here in the crowd. I heard my mate pop a bottle of champagne at the start of the second set! I thought, 'I haven't won yet - so tone it down!'"
The 21-year-old Schroder is the only man to have beaten Alcott this season and was confident of repeating his recent triumph over the Aussie at last month's French Riviera Open.
Yet the Australian was at his sharpest as he picked up the 14th grand slam singles title of his glittering career, breaking the left-hander Schroder three times in the opening set and three in the second for a comprehensive triumph.
Demonstrating more flair and touch than the Dutchman, especially with his drop shots that constantly caused Schroder problems, Alcott again showed why he's become a firm favourite with the Wimbledon crowd with his shows of emotion and virtuoso shot-making.
After he'd wrapped up his victory in 67 minutes, Alcott, ever the showman, spun around in his wheelchair.
Australian Associated Press
