Dylan Alcott

“Wimbledon was the last grand slam to get any wheelchair tennis in there at all. There was this idea that it was going to be slower, the players wouldn't be good enough, it wouldn't be as good to watch for spectators. That's been one of the myths that I've tried to de-code.”

“I don't think I try too hard. You know people who try really hard to be like 'woohoo, wacky'... I just be myself.”

“In terms of Paralympians there's not many more awesome than Kurt Fearnley.”

“It's interesting, I don't really think too much about being a role model or leaving a legacy or whatever. It's just not how I think.”

“When I was a kid and I was getting bullied at school and I was really upset, I'd say, 'I don't know anyone like me, I don't see anyone like me on the TV or on the radio or the newspaper, and that sucks! That's not fair.'”

“I was born with my disability and my early teenage years I actually hated having a disability. It was really tough for me.”

“I wear a lot of black, mate, I'm from Melbourne. It's cool to wear black, isn't it?”

“I remember when I was a little kid I used to ask my parents and brother why I never saw anyone like me on TV. Kids today won't have to ask that. That means the absolute world to me.”

“I get so many great opportunities to lift the representation of disabled people and I try to take them all.”

“When I first played tennis... I was 11 or 12... and the craziest bit about that tennis tournament is that I had never seen someone in a wheelchair drive a car. They were all driving.”

“One of the things I struggled with growing up was that that I never saw anyone like me on TV or in the newspaper. If I did see someone in a wheelchair on screen it was always a road safety ad for somebody who'd had an accident and ended up in a wheelchair and their life was over. I thought, that's not my life!”

“It took me 28 years to fully feel worthy with my disability.”

“I want to be a big mainstay in the media and want to do more acting. I'd also love my own talk show or radio show in the U.S.”

“A bill that protects some people from discrimination but indirectly discriminates another group is a crap bill. It needs to go in the bin the best of times.”

“I was born with a tumour wrapped around my spinal cord that was cut out when I was only a couple of days old.”

“The more famous I get, the weirder people become around you.”

“Some people want a job, for sure, but do you know what else some people want? They want a career. They want a leadership position.”

“Playing tennis and wheelchair basketball has opened a lot of doors for me.”

“As soon as you are comfortable with who you are, you start performing better, your life gets better, your relationships get better - opportunities start coming. It just so happens I became a role model.”

“I've known nothing but having a disability.”