Retiring tennis star Dylan Alcott has lifted the lid on the prizemoney awarded to wheelchair tennis competitors, hitting out at the cash up for grabs for he and his competitors at major tournaments, compared to able-bodied players.
After losing yesterday’s quad wheelchair singles final to Dutchman Sam Schroder, the seven-time Australian Open winner fronted the media for his final press conference as a professional tennis player.
Reflecting on how far wheelchair tennis has come throughout his eight years at the top level, Alcott acknowledged that certain inequalities between the events still needed to be put right in the sport.
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With this weekend’s men’s and women’s singles champions each taking home a staggering $2.875 million, Alcott said the amount was grossly out of whack with wheelchair tennis.
“I won the lead-in tournament here and it was like $1,300,” he said.
“How much is a flight from Europe, $3,000?
“It’s not just Australia, it’s all around the world. We don’t get $3.5 million for winning.
“We get less than half the first-round loser ($103,000) that the able-bodied gets at all slams.
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“That’s way better than it was. We used to get a firm handshake and a cold Powerade. So it’s better, but we’ve got to keep building it so it gets better and better.”
In comparison, able-bodied players received $25,250 just for fronting up to this years first round of Australian Open qualifying. While mixed doubles players received $6,250 for progressing to the third round of competition.
With plenty of progress still to be made, Alcott said that change had the potential to come from inside.
“We have the best Paralympic sport in the world because of the integration with the able-bodied tour. It’s unbelievable. And we do a poor job of leveraging that all year,” Alcott said.
“But people internally sometimes don’t do as good a job to understand how good the product is. Not to say when we go to fight for us more to put us on the main court and not think we’re lucky to be here, because we’re not lucky to be here, we deserve to be here. That’s the difference.
“People think we’re lucky to be here; get stuffed. We deserve to be here. We’re selling tickets, sponsors are making money and people are loving it. So start thinking like that and then it will all change. That’s what I was lucky enough to do.”
However, with Alcott’s influence, wheelchair tennis has made great strides and he has committed to championing disability and challenging the status quo even in retirement from sport.
“The first round at my first Australian Open in 2014, January 23, legit, there were five people there, five; my dad, mum, brother, couple of mates, and some people got lost and accidentally walked past,” he said.
“Legit, not exaggerating. Now as full as humanly possible Rod Laver, Channel Nine held the news, it was the biggest show in town with Nick and Thanasi and Ash today.
“I’m on the opening billboard when you get here in Melbourne, bloody Australian of the Year, for God’s sake. What the hell is that? That’s ridiculous.
“People might think that I love myself and it’s all about me but it’s not. That’s not what I’m about.
“It’s about changing perceptions so more people with disability get their opportunity to be them. Not winning a gold medal, not winning Grand Slams, but just going to a café, enjoying their life, having a job, going on a date, having a hit at tennis, whatever it is.
“So I never thought it would happen but it was my goal to make it happen, and it’s happened a trillion times more than I thought. And it’s not going to stop happening whatever I do next, I’m going to make sure it keeps happening. I’m excited for the next part of my life, whatever that may be.”
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