in

Dylan Alcott Savages The US Open For Going Ahead Without Wheelchair Tennis

Disgusting.

As we come out of lockdown, worldwide sport is slowly coming back. The Premier League and multiple football leagues overseas are back in action, the AFL locally – and how could we forget the planet-saving NRL! But the news isn’t so great for tennis fans, particularly for Aussie superstar Dylan Alcott, with the US Open saying they’ll be going ahead in 2020 – without wheelchair tennis.

The decision on this year’s Open was pushed out via a statement on the official website, where it was mentioned that the men’s and women’s singles would be going ahead as part of the competition – as well as men’s and women’s doubles. There was no room for mixed doubles, juniors, or wheelchair tennis though, the latter which has been building in popularity over the past few years.

And former Triple J host, and all round legend, Alcott was not having a bar of it.

Ranked number one in wheelchair tennis, Alcott unleashed via a series of tweets on Twitter, saying that players weren’t consulted, wheelchair players aren’t at a greater risk due to COVID, and that the decision was “disgusting discrimination”.

In the statement released by the US Open, Stacey Allaster, Chief Executive of the USTA, said that the goal was to minimise risk by having less people on-site. Including no fans, like most returning sport.

“The decision to hold the 2020 US Open without fans was not an easy one, but ultimately it was the correct one,” she said.

“To mitigate risk, we must minimise numbers on-site. Though we will not have fans on our site, we will engage with tennis fans around the world in new and exciting ways with the help of our global broadcast partners, and all our US Open sponsors.”

But the backlash has been real, with fans around the world flooding the US Open socials with questions about wheelchair tennis.

Alcott has of course long been a champion for disability awareness and rights, and when you consider how straight up unfair this seems – you can understand his anger.

He’s the best player in the world in his sport, and deserves to play in a grand slam – especially if you have men’s, women’s, men’s doubles and women’s doubles being player. Let’s hope the US Open come to their senses, but let’s be honest – not holding my breath.

Image Source: Dylan Alcott Twitter

Goodbye Summer Holiday Dreams, It Looks Like International Travel Is Out Till 2021

Danny Masterson From ‘That 70s Show’ Charged With Multiple Rapes That Allegedly Happened While The Show Was Still Airing