Dylan Alcott recently retired from professional tennis.
And on Thursday, the Paralympic sportsman was showered with congratulatory kisses to celebrate his career milestone.
Dylan, 31, was joined by his sexologist girlfriend Chantelle Otten who couldn’t keep her hands off the Australian of The Year winner after his retirement ceremony at The Australian Open.
So proud! Paralympic sportsman Dylan Alcott, 31, was joined by his sexologist girlfriend Chantelle Otten on Thursday and it appears she couldn’t keep her hands off him as the two partook in public displays of affection following his retirement ceremony at The Australian Open
The pair were spotted at the centre of the court, with Chantelle, 29, proudly placing her arms over his chest, before planting a passionate kiss on his mouth.
Chantelle looked glam in a loose-fitting cropped crochet vest, along with a pair of beige trousers. She wore her coloured tresses up in a high plait.
Meanwhile, Dylan wore a pair of black trousers, a brugendy polo and accessorised with white trainers.
The beloved presenter played his final game of wheelchair singles tennis in the final on Thursday.
Pucker up! The pair were spotted at the centre of the court, with Chantelle, 29, proudly placing her arms over his chest, before planting a passionate kiss on his mouth. Both pictured
Congratulatory kisses: The Paralympic sportsman was showered with congratulatory kisses to celebrate his career milestone
Supportive girlfriend: Dylan (left) and his girlfriend Chantelle (right) have been dating for three years
The world number one, a prominent sporting and media figure in Australia, was unable to go out on a high, losing to Sam Schroder 7-5, 6-0 on Rod Laver Arena.
The match drew a close to his career which saw him become the most successful quad tennis player ever with 15 Grand Slam singles and eight doubles titles.
He announced the decision to quit the sport before the tournament.
It followed his history-making exploits in 2021 when he completed the Golden Slam of winning all four quad singles majors and the Paralympics gold in the same year.
Star: The world number one, a prominent sporting and media figure in Australia, was unable to go out on a high, losing to Sam Schroder 7-5, 6-0 on Rod Laver Arena
The couple’s sighting comes on the back of being named Australian of the Year on Tuesday.
Dylan gave an emotional acceptance speech at the awards ceremony on Tuesday, sharing how he once ‘hated’ himself for being different and now feels like the luckiest guy in the world.
He also humbly said that frontline workers battling the Covid-19 pandemic over the past year deserve the award more than ‘a guy who hits tennis balls for a living and likes talking’.
Pioneer: It followed his history-making exploits in 2021 when he completed the Golden Slam of winning all four quad singles majors and the Paralympics gold in the same year
His humility and humour was on full display from the very moment he took the stage and received the nation’s highest honour from Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
‘I thought I was no chance until I got here and I saw this really good looking ramp. And I thought – I might have a chance here,’ he said to the raucous applause of the Canberra crowd before touching on his heart-wrenching story of how he became the person he is today.
‘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 Victorian explained.
Relationship: Chantelle and Dylan made their romance public at a tennis event in April 2019, and have been inseparable ever since
‘I’ve known nothing but having a disability. If I’m honest with you, I can’t tell you how much I used to hate myself. I used to hate having a disability. I hated it so much, I hated being different and I didn’t want to be here anymore.’
He said the pain of feeling different was magnified even more by the everyday messaging he received on the TV, the radio or in newspapers.
Alcott explained that as a youngster the only time he would ever see someone in a wheelchair was in a road safety ad where someone drink drives, has a car accident and is left paralysed.
Inseparable: Chantelle was on hand to support Dylan after he was named ‘Australian of the Year’ on Tuesday – ‘My Aus of the year wow,’ she wrote
‘There would be someone like me in tears because their life was over and I thought to myself, “that’s not my life” but I believed that was going to be my life,’ he said.
‘But I’m so lucky that I had the best family, some of the best friends, my beautiful partner and my whole team who told me that I was worthy. And that I was allowed to be loved.
‘It wasn’t until my teenage years I started seeing people like me.’
Win: Dylan gave an emotional acceptance speech at the awards ceremony on Tuesday, sharing how he once ‘hated’ himself for being different and now feels like the luckiest guy in the world
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