Wheelchair tennis star Dylan Alcott has made history by becoming the first man ever to achieve the 'Golden Slam' of all four major singles titles as well as Paralympic gold in the same season with his emphatic win in the quad final at the US Open.
The irrepressible 30-year-old Melburnian top seed was a brilliant winner in his showdown with teenage Dutchman Niels Vink at Flushing Meadows on Sunday, outplaying the youngster 7-5 6-2 in an hour and a quarter to lift his 15th grand slam singles crown.
If it is the last time the New York slam sees this remarkable Australian entertainer in action, Alcott was happy to leave them with a typically effervescent farewell.
"Thanks for making the dreams of a young, fat disabled kid with a really bad haircut come true, because I can't believe I just did it!" he told the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd.
"I just can't believe I just won the Golden Slam!"
Then he was off to the Arthur Ashe Stadium to watch the men's singles final between Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic, opening a can of beer for the cameras, pouring it into his trophy, chugging it all down and then plonking the upside-down Cup on his head.
Cue cheers all round from the Flushing Meadow crowds who had earlier watched him produce a vintage display to outclass the 18-year-old Vink, the sport's new rising star who had pushed Alcott to three sets in a classic at the Paralympics.
At the end of an uneven first set in which serve was broken seven times, Alcott produced his best tennis, racing to retrieve a net cord and then somehow finding a dazzling lob to win the set 7-5 with his 17th winner of the stanza.
From there, he was in complete control, taking victory in an hour and a quarter after adding another 11 winners.
'It changed and saved my life'
After praising Vink for pushing him to a new level, Alcott told the crowd: "I used to hate myself so much. I hated my disability, I didn't even want to be here anymore, and then I found tennis and it changed and saved my life.
"And now, I'm the only male in any form of tennis to win the Golden Slam, which is pretty cool."
Alcott has won 20 of his 21 matches this season and a 15th singles grand slam but is considering his future after achieving something unsurpassable.
Dylan Alcott, of Australia, right, and Niels Vink, of the Netherlands, pose for a picture after Alcott defeated Vink in the men's wheelchair quad singles final. Source: AP
"I've got to be up front - I don't know if I'll be back here," he told the crowd.
Earlier on Sunday, Dutchwoman Diede de Groot, the top seed, achieved the 'Golden Slam' in the women's wheelchair singles, beating Japan's Yui Kamiji 6-3 6-2 in a rematch of their gold medal encounter at the Tokyo Paralympics.
In the equivalent men's singles, Japan's top seed Shingo Kunieda beat second-seeded Briton Alfie Hewett 6-1 6-4.
Daniil Medvedev defeats Novak Djokovic
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic's bid for the first calendar-year grand slam in men's tennis since 1969 ended one victory short with defeat to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final.
Medvedev's 6-4 6-4 6-4 triumph secured him his first major championship and prevented Djokovic from winning what would have been a record-setting 21st of his career.
Top-ranked Djokovic entered this match 27-0 in 2021 at the sport's four most important tournaments, enduring the burdens of expectations and pressure that came along with his two-track pursuit of history over the past seven months and, in New York, the past two weeks.
Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, kisses the championship trophy after defeating Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, in the men's singles final of the US Open. Source: AP
He beat Medvedev in the Australian Open final on a hard court in February, then added titles on clay at the French Open in June and Wimbledon on grass in July.
But Djokovic, the 34-year-old from Serbia, couldn't get to 28-0.
He showed frustration, too, destroying his racquet by pounding it three times against the court after one point, drawing boos from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd and a code violation from the chair umpire.
Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, left, congratulates Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, after Medvedev won the mens singles final of the US Open tennis championships. Source: AP
A lot of Djokovic's issues had to do with Medvedev, who used his 1.98cm metre frame to chase down everything and respond with seemingly effortless groundstrokes - much the way Djokovic wears down foes - and delivered pin-point serving.
Djokovic reached his record-equalling 31st grand slam final with six victories on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows. But he could not quite get the last one he needed.
He remains tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with 20 major titles.
