Australian wheelchair tennis phenomenon Dylan Alcott has powered into Wimbledon's quad singles final, continuing his quest to win a 'golden slam' of all four major titles and the Paralympics.
The Melbourne champion, who has already won his home Australian Open and French Open titles, is hot favourite to successfully defend his Wimbledon crown after beating American wildcard David Wagner 6-2 6-2 in the semis on Thursday.
The 13-times singles champion Alcott took just 73 minutes to defeat his 47-year-old US rival - a six-times grand slam winner himself - in an impressive display that featured 11 aces and 43 winners.
The only men to beat Alcott in grand slams in the last two years are Briton Andy Lapthorne in 2019 and the young Dutch riser Sam Schroder in 2020, both at the US Open, and they were meeting later on Thursday in the other semi-final.
The 21-year-old Schroder defeated the Australian in New York last year and also beat him at last month's French Riviera Open to end Alcott's 14-match winning streak.
Yet the irrepressible Aussie character is hoping to hit back on the outside courts at Wimbledon, with half-an-eye on the calendar slam.
"I'd have a thousand beers and be the happiest guy in the world if I did the golden slam - so I'm gonna try and do it but all I can do is give it my best," Alcott told AAP.
"Mate, it'd be unbelievable - but it can be a dangerous game when you're thinking too far ahead, so I try not to. I got burned once before doing that in 2019.
"But my self-worth, my worth to my community and my country is not dependent on me winning the 'golden slam'. I used to think it was and then I'd fail and think, 'I'm not worth it' and 'I've let everyone down'.
"But I can still be an ambassador for my sport if I lose a match and help my community - people with disability around the world."
Alcott had to spend five days in quarantine after coming into England and is still unsure of what will happen with his Paralympic bid.
"I haven't even been thinking about Tokyo to be honest. I'd love the opportunity to play there as long as we can do it safely - I'll be there with bells on if it goes ahead.
"But at the moment I'm in the green - I'm strictly Wimby."
