Alcott, Davidson complete quad doubles three-peat

Two aces in a row meant three championship points—and $200 less in the bank account of Heath Davidson, who, like lots of players, had pledged money to Aces for Bushfire Relief this Australian Open.

"Hopefully @DylanAlcott let’s a few past," Davidson tweeted before the tournament. But in this case, Davidson and Alcott were on the same team, serving for their third consecutive Melbourne title in quad wheelchair doubles. (Quad is the division for players with a disability affecting at least three limbs.)

At the end of a 12-stroke rally that made use of the entire hypotenuse of the floor of Margaret Court Arena, they'd done it. Australians Alcott and Davidson were three-peat champions, defeating Great Britain's Andy Lapthorne and America's David Wagner, 6-4, 6-3.

For Alcott, it was his fifth major win in a row in this category—he won the 2019 calendar-year Grand Slam with three different partners.

Having won 15 total Slams, plus three Paralympic gold medals for Australia between tennis and wheelchair basketball, Alcott has become one of the biggest stars in wheelchair sports, and a celebrity especially around the grounds of the Melbourne Park.

Here he is before the match, with WTA No. 1 Ashleigh Barty:

And here, at the trophy ceremony, are the champions alongside singles semifinalist Alexander Zverev:

In open wheelchair doubles, Japan's Yui Kamiji and Britain's Jordanne Whiley upset top women's seeds Diede De Groot and Aniek Van Koot, of the Netherlands, in the final on Friday.

At the same time as that match, top men's seeds Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer, from France, were also upset, losing to British No. 2 seeds Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid for the men's title.

In men's open singles, Reid has booked a spot in the final with world No. 1 Shingo Kunieda, of Japan. The women's singles final will be between No. 3 Van Koot and No. 2 Kamiji.

Meanwhile, quad singles has just left its round-robin stage. Alcott, the top seed, plays Lapthorne in the final.

So if the schedule feels empty this final weekend of tournament, follow the lead of Zverev and give the wheelchair competitors their due.