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The following programme contains
strong language.

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(ADAM WHISTLES)

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'As a comedian,

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it's most fun
to have a ridiculous idea,

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then see how far you can take it.

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I think that's exactly
what this journey is.'

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ANNOUNCER: We have
a very special show tonight.

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Please put your hands together
for Adam Hills!

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Hi.

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'Adam Hills is a comedian,
a TV presenter...

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Would you like me to do the thing?

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'..a dad, a husband...'

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..who harbours deep-seated longings
to be a sports star.

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(LAUGHS)

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'I always wanted to play tennis.

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The aim when I first started was
to be world number one.'

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That's pretty good. (LAUGHS)

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Yeah, this isn't going to go well,
is it?

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'The trickiest part of that is,
there was no way for people

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with disabilities like mine...'

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Hey, we're all disabled here.
'..to play tennis at a high level.

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Oh, Ben! Yeah!

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But then I found something called
para-standing tennis.

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(ALL CHEER)

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My mission:
Have para-standing tennis

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played at
the Grand Slam tournaments,

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have it a part of the Paralympics,

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and an ongoing quest
for world domination.

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(BICYCLE BELL RINGS)

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'If you want to get back into a
sport you haven't played for years,

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contact an old mate,
who had said to you in the past,

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"If ever you want to hit
some tennis balls, get in touch,"

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so I got in touch.'

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I mean, I went straight to the top,
but I got in touch.

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(CHEERING)ANNOUNCER: Game, set
and match, Cash.

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(CHUCKLES) Hey mate, how's life?

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How you been?
Yeah, really good.

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Saw you on the box the other day.

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Really?The other night, yeah.
Was I making you laugh?

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Yeah. Yeah, it was funny.

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What's the secret
of playing on clay?

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Never miss a ball and run forever.

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(LAUGHS)

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Simple.

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I'm going to have
to put on a different leg.

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Right, I'm going to be taping mine
to keep it stiff

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and you're taping your...?
I'm taping mine to keep it on.

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(BOTH LAUGH)
Exactly.

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I'm starting to get back into tennis

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by hitting with someone who
has won Wimbledon.Yeah. (LAUGHS)

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That's good!

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Shall we just leave the leg there?
That looks alright, right? Oof.

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If you don't know,
I was born without a right foot.

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OK? Prosthetic from the knee down.

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I have to show that
cos sometimes people gasp.

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The first question is normally,
"How did you lose it?"

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Unless I'm outside of Australia,
then the first question is,

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"Was it a shark?"
(LAUGHTER)

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And it's really disappointing
that it wasn't a shark.

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There's no good story attached
to me losing my foot,

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I just lost it at birth, basically.

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I mean, I didn't lose it,
it's not behind the couch.

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Oof.

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Yes. Well done.

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It feels so weird.
Yeah.

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I'm getting there, though.
It will for a bit.

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You're getting used to it
pretty quickly.

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Yes! You've got
the clay courter's forehand.

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Have I?
That's pretty good.

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That was the best rally
I've hit in ages, thank you.

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I think having a hit with Pat,
and it just re-awoke

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the tennis bug,
and it kind of made me wonder,

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"Where do I fit into tennis now?"

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Do you remember...

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Swan Premium Open, about 1986/87?

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Ah yeah, in Sydney?

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You came down one end to serve
and there was sawdust

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all over the court, and there was
a ballboy who cleaned it up.

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And you came out and you went,
"You missed a bit".

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OK.

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And that...
that little ballboy was me.

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No, was it really?
(LAUGHS)

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I remember...You were
ball-boying there that tournament?

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So you told me to go back
and do another bit,

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and in front of the whole crowd
and TV cameras,

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I'm just sweeping sawdust
off the court

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until you went,
"Yeah, that's better."

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All these years, I've thought...

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"..I didn't miss a bit.
I knew I didn't miss a bit."

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You probably didn't miss a bit.
You probably didn't!

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I was just screwing with Lendl.

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(LAUGHS)

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So I've been asked for years,
you know,

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"Would you consider playing in a
wheelchair?" It doesn't feel fair.

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Right.And also, I'd have
to get used to using a wheelchair.

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Cos whenever I have played on court,

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and the ball goes short, you move
your legs instead of your arms.

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(BOTH LAUGH)

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'There is no tennis
at a higher level

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for people with disabilities
like mine.'

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If you're able-bodied,

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you can play tennis
against able-bodied people.

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If you're in a wheelchair, you can
play against people in a wheelchair.

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If I want to play tennis
against people like me

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with similar disabilities...

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..I literally can't.
The only way I can do that is

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to get into a wheelchair
and play wheelchair tennis.

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KID: Yes.
ADAM:

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KID:

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ADAM:

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Who am I?

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I'm a clown. That's what I am.

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No! (LAUGHS)

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KID: OK, thank you.
(LAUGHS)

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I'm a clown for grown-ups, is
how my daughter once described it.

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But when I was a kid,
I wanted to be a tennis player.

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That's the job I wanted.

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I started being coached
when I was five.

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I stood up in front of my class
when I was nine and told them all

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that I was going to play
at Wimbledon.

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And then when I was 12, I started
playing competitive tennis.

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I've always played
against able-bodied adults.

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In a weird way,
I probably saw it as a...

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..maybe a badge of pride, if I could
beat someone who was able-bodied.

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Because I never, never wanted
to refer to myself as disabled.

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Partly because
I'm not missing that much.

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Doesn't stop me
from doing that much.

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But also, I don't know, I didn't
think of myself as disabled.

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In the last few years,
every little now and again,

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I'd go online
and Google "disability tennis",

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just to see
if there was a way in for me.

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(AUDIENCE LAUGHS)

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Recently, I've found there's this
thing called "para-standing tennis."

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There's this underground movement
around the world

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of people wanting to play tennis,

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who've got disabilities,
that aren't in wheelchairs.

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And they've been, like,
whispering about it for years.

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It's almost... it's like Fight Club.

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(LAUGHTER)
You know, the first rule is,

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you don't mention it,
the second rule is,

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you make it fucking accessible.

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(LAUGHTER)

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I know a lot about disability sport,

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and I had to search so hard

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to find anything
about para-standing tennis.

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(HUMS "SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE"
BY CREAM)

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# CREAM: Sunshine of Your Love #

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'There are about
400 para-standing tennis players

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in the world right now,
from 30 different countries.

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There must be
more than 400 players out there.'

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"Since wheelchair tennis started,
as a demonstration event

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at the 1988 Paralympics,
the sport has not expanded

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to include different classifications
for different disabilities,

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like many other
Paralympic sports have."

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So why have other Paralympic sports
expanded and not tennis?

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'It's not at the Grand Slams.

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The ITF, the International Tennis
Federation, they don't support it.

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It's not part of the Paralympics.'

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Wheelchair tennis exists,

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why isn't there
para-standing tennis?

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The steps were so easy to see.

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ITF, Paralympics, Grand Slams.

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Boom. It's all there.

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'So this is Kai.

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I love the headline, "Wants
to win gold at the Paralympics,

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but the current rules
won't let him."'

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I looked online at the beginning of
the year, and there was an article

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of this short-statured guy,

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17-year-old,
short-statured Australian kid,

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he's about this high,
his name's Kai.

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He wants to play tennis
at the Paralympics for Australia.

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So I started following
this guy on Instagram.

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And then two weeks later,
he messaged me and said,

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"My dad wants to talk to you".

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(LAUGHTER)

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Yeah, this isn't going
to go well, is it!

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So I messaged his dad,
and his dad was like,

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"Oh, hey, do you want
to play disability tennis?

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Because there's this whole
tournament that I'm organising."

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And I was like, "Well,
that went better than I thought!"

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(LAUGHTER)

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Comedy is like flying a plane,

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you have to build up
your flying hours.

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'I think that's going to go
for tennis as well.

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You know, the more balls I hit,
the better I'll get at it.'

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This is the first ever para-standing
tennis come-and-try day

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at the National Tennis Centre
in Roehampton.

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It's never been done before in the
UK so it's really kind of exciting.

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'This is, like,
the first chance I got to see

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what para-standing tennis
was all about.'

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National Tennis Centre, eh?

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It just got real.

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G'day.

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00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:05,240
Welcome
to the National Tennis Centre.

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00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:08,360
This is the first
of its kind in the UK.

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00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:12,280
This is the first ever
para-standing tennis festival

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00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:14,960
we have ever done.

200
00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:16,920
'There's not been
a para-standing tennis event

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00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:18,960
in England, ever.'

202
00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,920
Hopefully, a day
like the NTC come-and-try day,

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00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:25,240
that propels it all forward.

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00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:35,800
Ahh, Ben! Yeah!

205
00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:39,840
(ALL LAUGH)

206
00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:52,520
Hey, mate. Yeah, I'm alright.
How are you doing?

207
00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:56,160
I was watching you on the TV
last night, it would have been.

208
00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:57,960
Oh, yeah, it would have been. Yeah.

209
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I'm exhausted. I've only had,
like, four hours sleep.

210
00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:02,120
So what's going on here?

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00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:04,800
If you've got a disability and
want to play tennis at the moment,

212
00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:06,440
you have to be in a wheelchair.
OK.

213
00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:08,920
There's a bunch of people here
who don't use wheelchairs.

214
00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:10,880
They're like,
"I want to play someone like me."

215
00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:13,560
Because there's, like,
Paralympians who are like,

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00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,400
"If I could do this
at the Paralympics,
there's no way I'd swim."

217
00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:18,920
(BOTH LAUGH)

218
00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,320
Wheelchair tennis is great,
and it's at all the Grand Slams,

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00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,160
and the Paralympics,
and the ITF, and everything.

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00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:28,080
And I kind of feel like...

221
00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:34,000
.."tennis" went, "Good, well,
we've got disabilities covered."

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00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:37,360
What if you've got one arm?
You can't use a wheelchair.

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00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:39,760
Or if you're short-statured,
or you have cerebral palsy,

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00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,360
or if you're like me,
you don't normally use a wheelchair?

225
00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:46,480
OK. I'm going to be really honest.

226
00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,320
All morning, I heard people
warming up on that court over there

227
00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,120
while we were playing.
And they were like... (GRUNTS)

228
00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,920
And I was like, "Who's that wanker?"

229
00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,840
And Andy Murray walks
through the curtain!

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00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:02,440
Oh, him. Oh.
Double Wimbledon champion.

231
00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:04,760
OK. That was amazing.

232
00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,000
That's, like, the dream
for what you want

233
00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:10,520
for all of these people who have
turned up for the first time

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00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:12,480
playing para-standing tennis.

235
00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:15,440
Big cheer on three, everyone,
arms up in the air.

236
00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,040
(ALL CHEER)

237
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,400
When we left that come-and-try day,
I was like, "Great,

238
00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:23,800
OK, I want to do everything
I can to make sure people know

239
00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:27,160
about this sport, so I wanna
put an even bigger spotlight on it."

240
00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:30,445
The Grand Slams are where
para-standing tennis has to be.

241
00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:42,960
Hello and welcome
to day one of the Australian Open.

242
00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,200
The gates have been
flung open to Melbourne park.

243
00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:46,800
The gang's all here.
Morning.

244
00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:48,760
Let's get this show underway.

245
00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:53,760
Oh, my God, the Australian Open.

246
00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:57,080
When you say Australian Open,
I think...

247
00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:00,960
..Pat Cash.COMMENTATOR:
Cash is back in business!

248
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:02,440
John Newcombe.

249
00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:04,680
Stefan Edberg.

250
00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,640
Telling people
about the sport is one thing,

251
00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:09,920
it has to be at the Grand Slams.

252
00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,040
We've gotta have something
to aim at.

253
00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:15,280
COMMENTATOR: Oh, stunning.
COMMENTATOR 2: No way!

254
00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,200
He has fired that...
Come on!

255
00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:19,400
We've seen it all!

256
00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:21,920
What a fantastic week we have seen.

257
00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:30,480
(TRAIN HORN TOOTS)

258
00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:38,080
'We are at Grace Park Tennis Club
in Hawthorn, in Melbourne,

259
00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:42,320
for the first ever para-standing
tennis tournament in Australia.

260
00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:46,840
There are four different categories.

261
00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:50,560
Twenty-two players, from Australia,

262
00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:54,600
New Zealand, Chile, Brazil, Japan.'

263
00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:58,440
This is amazing. Hi!

264
00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,960
Hi, I'm Sarah.Hi, Sarah,
nice to meet you. Hey, how are you?

265
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,120
What's the right hand shake
with that?

266
00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:06,440
How do you operate that?

267
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,000
What?
(LAUGHTER)

268
00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:14,480
'It's kind of a massive deal.

269
00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,280
So, the Australian Open is on
at the same time.

270
00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:19,880
So, the idea was,
let's run this tournament

271
00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,160
at the same time
as the Australian Open.'

272
00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,040
Kid just said to me, "Are you
the guy that has got 3 ATP points?"

273
00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:28,880
And I was like,
"No, that's him down there."

274
00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:31,600
(LAUGHTER)

275
00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:34,320
'This is it.

276
00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,560
My first glimpse into what
para-standing tennis was all about.

277
00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,280
It was my first time at Fight Club.'

278
00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,640
Thank you very much,
that was an absolute ripper.

279
00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:46,680
Thank you very much, mate.

280
00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:48,920
'I'm going to sit here for
another hour, hour and a half

281
00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:50,720
cos I don't think I can move.'

282
00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:52,640
WOMAN: Want me to lift you?

283
00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,560
There are some really good
para-standing tennis players
out there.

284
00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:56,920
So what are you missing?

285
00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,000
Oh, wow. Do you want to find it?

286
00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:07,680
I can't beat this guy,
he's missing a fingertip,

287
00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:09,800
on top of everything else!

288
00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,120
My name is Kemit-Amon Lewis,
I'm a quadruple amputee.

289
00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,680
Full on the right,
and partial on both on the left.

290
00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:25,320
(LAUGHTER)

291
00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,680
I became an amputee in 2019,

292
00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:34,480
and all of my friends said, "Well,
you can play wheelchair tennis."

293
00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:38,200
And I was like, "Well, you kind of
need hands to roll the chair."

294
00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:41,760
There's a weird thing that goes on
when you're playing

295
00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:43,960
a guy with one leg,
where you're looking at each other,

296
00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,960
like, "Who's going to hit
the first drop shot?"

297
00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,000
(LAUGHTER)

298
00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,560
And you're hitting away,
and you're hitting forehands

299
00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,440
and then you're hitting backhands,
and then one of them goes, "Dink!"

300
00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,080
And you go,
"Oh, it's fucking game on."

301
00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:05,760
'Kemit and I hit it off
straightaway,

302
00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:10,359
but there was always
that underlying thing of...

303
00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,119
"But we've got
to play tennis against each other"'.

304
00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:19,560
'The Melbourne tournament was
the first one that I've played.'

305
00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:25,240
Like, how did I not know
that this existed before?

306
00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,760
'To me, Adam is my "frival",

307
00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:34,880
friend and rival, does that work?'

308
00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,880
'It's kind of like,
should we become friends

309
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:45,040
or are we going to be enemies?
I'm not entirely sure.'

310
00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:56,720
'It's really interesting
being surrounded

311
00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:58,880
by people
with disabilities because...

312
00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:00,720
there's a shared experience

313
00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:03,360
that you don't necessarily
have to talk about.'

314
00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,360
Whether it's someone
who's born with no arms,

315
00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,600
or somebody who lost a leg, or
somebody who's got cerebral palsy.

316
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,640
You know and they know,

317
00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,600
and you don't have
to have that discussion.

318
00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,840
You just know that
you both come from the same place.

319
00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:21,920
Or a similar place.

320
00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:26,720
'My name's Alex Hunt,
I'm from New Zealand.

321
00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,920
I was born with one arm.

322
00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:31,600
Adam Hills: Foot Fault.'

323
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:33,840
Did he hit any foot faults?
Probably.

324
00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,240
And I've been playing tennis
my whole life.

325
00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:40,840
So I got a message saying

326
00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:43,480
Alex Hunt wants to play doubles
with you in Melbourne.

327
00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:46,840
I wasn't entirely sure why
he wanted to play tennis with me.

328
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:51,200
I got asked to play doubles
with this guy called Adam Hills.

329
00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:53,920
EMMA:

330
00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,040
Oh, interesting!

331
00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,360
I feel like an idiot,
but I had no idea who he was.

332
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:04,120
Great serve.

333
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:07,000
'This is a guy who made
the top 2,000 in the world

334
00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,120
in professional tennis.'

335
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,160
MAN: Come on.
WOMAN: Come on.

336
00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,320
God! That's a shitty thing
to do to a guy

337
00:19:14,360 --> 00:19:16,280
with one leg,
but it's less shitty...

338
00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:18,320
As soon as I did it
I was like, "What are you doing?"

339
00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:20,800
It's less shitty when you're
playing with a guy with one leg.

340
00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:24,160
Yeah, true.
Hey, we're all disabled here.

341
00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,640
Won the singles, won the doubles.

342
00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:31,680
I was feeling
pretty good about myself.

343
00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,880
MAN:

344
00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:38,840
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

345
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,320
You actually both won
the singles, too.

346
00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:45,840
I'm going to say something
I said a lot during the game. Yours!

347
00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,200
(LAUGHTER)

348
00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:52,080
'Everyone wants to be part
of a tribe, right?

349
00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:57,680
But none of us knew that
there was even a tribe that existed.

350
00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,000
There's a certain power
to disability sport

351
00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:04,040
that never ceases to amaze me.'

352
00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:10,320
(LAUGHTER)

353
00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:15,800
Realistically, the aim was
to get back into playing tennis

354
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:20,240
but now, European Championships
in Barcelona,

355
00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:22,160
World Championships in Turin...

356
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,520
I want to win it, if I can,

357
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:27,880
and I want to work
towards becoming world number one.

358
00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:36,640
JUDY HILLS:

359
00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:40,360
Do you want to wash these first?

360
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,400
Oh, yeah, let's do that.

361
00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:50,920
But the tennis is coming back
to you, you've always played tennis.

362
00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,280
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
it's all in there.

363
00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:56,600
Yeah.
It's just a matter of remembering.

364
00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:59,680
Well, you're a lot older.
Shut up.

365
00:21:02,120 --> 00:21:04,760
The cockatoos will come
and sit on the balcony.

366
00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,080
So remember, when Dad died, in 2012,

367
00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:10,720
remember the next morning we woke up
and there was a kookaburra

368
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:12,760
sitting on the ramp out the front,
and hung around

369
00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:14,440
for two or three days.

370
00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:18,360
And we always said
Dad had come back as a kookaburra.

371
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,840
We used to say that.
They come back in the next life.

372
00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,680
(KOOKABURRA CALLS)

373
00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:24,760
There you go.
He's just saying thank you.

374
00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,200
(BOTH LAUGH)

375
00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:29,760
I think this one.

376
00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:39,560
I always bemoaned
the amount of crap you kept but...

377
00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:41,760
Oh. It's all yours.

378
00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:45,040
I know, but look at this.

379
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:47,080
Let's check out this box.

380
00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:52,880
Oh, that's a gymnastics trophy.
Most improved award.

381
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,280
1991, Saturday mixed.

382
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,560
C3 Saturday mixed.

383
00:21:57,600 --> 00:21:58,880
What's that?

384
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:00,920
Most improved.

385
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,760
I think that's more like
"Thanks for coming."

386
00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,640
Dad was the tennis player,
wasn't he?Yeah.Yeah.

387
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:08,960
Yeah.
So, if he was alive,

388
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:10,760
we'd probably still
be playing tennis now.

389
00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,800
I think he'd be very proud
of you now.

390
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:15,840
Yeah.

391
00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,440
And I think all of this,
all of the tennis,

392
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:21,960
and all of this kind of stuff,
I kind of feel like...

393
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:23,680
It's because of him.
Yeah.

394
00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:25,840
Cos when I look at all of this,
I kind of realise

395
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,120
how much tennis was
a part of my life.

396
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,640
It makes me glad
that I found tennis again.

397
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:33,840
And that I found a way
to get back into tennis again.

398
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,240
Yeah, it's just...

399
00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:38,880
It's exciting to be a part
of it all again.

400
00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:41,000
It's good.
It's all fallen into place.

401
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,440
Yeah. It has all fallen into place.

402
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,400
We put our own tournament on
in January of this year,

403
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,640
the same time as the Australian Open
in Melbourne.

404
00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,240
And cos it was on at the same time
as the Australian Open,

405
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:56,120
they kind of went,
"Well, that looks alright."

406
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,760
So they had an exhibition match
that I took part in

407
00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:00,760
against a guy called Dylan Alcott,

408
00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,440
who's, like, one of the best
wheelchair tennis players ever,

409
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:07,080
and a few pro players, so
that's starting to happen as well.

410
00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:09,840
The French Open...
couldn't give a fuck.

411
00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,520
(LAUGHTER)

412
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,120
'I had to keep reminding myself
I'm not just here to play tennis,

413
00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:27,120
I'm also here to promote
para-standing tennis.'

414
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:29,800
I don't want to ruin the moment
by saying shit just got realer,

415
00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,120
but, like, it really did.

416
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,760
'A year ago, I had read
about para-standing tennis.

417
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,360
Now, we're on the Kia Arena...

418
00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,120
..at the Australian Open, about
to play an exhibition match.'

419
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:54,880
I'm about to play against
one of the best

420
00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,680
wheelchair tennis players
there's ever been, Dylan Alcott.

421
00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,120
COMMENTATOR: Dylan Alcott
is a Wimbledon Champion!

422
00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:10,400
This is nuts. This is huge.

423
00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:12,440
Like, this is huge for the sport.

424
00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:17,760
When I started getting involved
with para-standing tennis,
my first thought was

425
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,080
"How are wheelchair players
going to react to it?"

426
00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:24,040
Well, it depends if you kick my arse
in the next half an hour.

427
00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:26,320
So when you beat me,
I'll hate you for it.

428
00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:29,640
OK, alright.Mate, I'm all
about inclusion, so are you.

429
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:32,640
So, everyone deserves to play
the sport in whatever way they can.

430
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:34,960
And I think there's been,
in the past...

431
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,200
I guess you tell me, a pressure,
if you've got one leg,

432
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:38,760
you play in a wheelchair.
Yeah, yeah.

433
00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:40,920
I think if people want to have
a crack on their feet,

434
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:42,840
you have the right
to play in any way you want.

435
00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:44,760
The weird thing is, for me,
I always thought,

436
00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:46,840
"I technically could get
in a wheelchair."

437
00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,760
But if you're short-statured,
or you've got one arm,
or cerebral palsy,

438
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:51,480
you can't necessarily use
a wheelchair.

439
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,160
They aren't for everybody. I love
it, I'd be screwed without it.

440
00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:56,960
I'm not very good
at standing tennis, personally, um,

441
00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,560
but the fact that, you know, the
fact that you're leading this, mate,

442
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:03,040
which I'm very proud to be
a small part of today,

443
00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:04,400
is awesome, and who knows?

444
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,080
Imagine in five years if there's
para-standing at Paralympics,

445
00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:09,520
Wimbledon, Aus Open,
whatever, but...

446
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,280
if you beat me today, I'm going
to campaign against you playing.

447
00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:14,800
No worries. OK, understood.
Because wheelchair is my zone.

448
00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:17,080
And if you come steal
my thunder again,

449
00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:19,280
I mean, I'm left with nothing
out here, right?

450
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:22,040
I'm going to get into comedy maybe.

451
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:24,160
As far as I know,
this is the first time

452
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,440
that para-standing tennis has had
this much coverage.

453
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:28,280
This is huge for the sport.

454
00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,360
It's the Australian Open,
it's broadcast around the world.

455
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,680
This is what we wanted,
for more people to know about it.

456
00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:36,840
WOMAN: Alright, let's go, Dylan.

457
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,040
Attack his weakness
which is his right leg, let's go.

458
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:44,560
I got you, mate. Oof!

459
00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:46,600
Oh, me! Me, me, me! One bounce!

460
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,840
Ooh.
Izzy with the winner, Love 30.

461
00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:54,080
A kid just asked for an autograph,
and I signed it,

462
00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:56,280
and I said, "Who's your
favourite tennis player?"

463
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,480
And she said, "You are, Adam."

464
00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:01,160
Oh, I've got it still.

465
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,320
Oh, watch out, Adam!

466
00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:04,920
Oh!

467
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,840
And I went, "Who's your
favourite proper tennis player?"

468
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:10,080
And she said, "Dylan."
That's nice.

469
00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:12,800
I should point out
all the para-standing tennis players

470
00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:14,960
who played in the championships
over the weekend are

471
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:16,600
at that end of the court.

472
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:19,360
Was tennis always your thing?

473
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,160
What saved my life
was playing sport,

474
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,560
because I met people like me.
I met my community,

475
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,080
I met my tribe.
I met other people with a disability

476
00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:31,480
who were loving their life, and I
thought, "Maybe I can do that too."

477
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,560
I'm scared! Ah!

478
00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:37,560
You're actually not bad out here!

479
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:39,920
Oh, no. You!

480
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,040
That's beautiful!

481
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:46,760
Wah! Come on!

482
00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:48,800
What is that?

483
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:55,280
Para-standing tennis is the
new tennis that we want to get up

484
00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:57,560
and running, for people
with disabilities

485
00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,840
who don't use a wheelchair, so we
are just absolutely over the moon

486
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,320
that you've come out to watch this.
Thank you, everyone!

487
00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:05,360
(APPLAUSE)

488
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,320
'There was such a high
coming back from Australia.

489
00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,760
It was like...
like the summer of tennis love.'

490
00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:31,160
ANNOUNCER: Adam Hills!
Wah!

491
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,440
'But then the, kind of,
reality of bureaucracy hit.

492
00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:40,920
The tennis federations,
the organisations

493
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:42,680
that we needed to jump on board...

494
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:45,880
..weren't as loved up as we were.'

495
00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:50,200
AUTOMATED VOICE: "Louise
can't take your call right now.

496
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:52,000
Just leave your message
after the tone."

497
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:54,800
Hey, Louise,
it's Adam Hills calling.

498
00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:56,880
I just wanted to follow up with you

499
00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,040
about something we talked about
at the NTC.

500
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,400
I'm trying to contact
Andy Murray on his Twitter.

501
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,600
It's Adam Hills, trying to get
para-standing tennis

502
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:09,600
into Invictus.

503
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,680
"Hey, Andy,
great to meet you at the NTC.

504
00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:14,160
We would love to try
and take this sport further.

505
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:19,160
Would you be interested
in approaching the ITF with us?"

506
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:25,280
If they could see
what para-standing tennis is,

507
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,480
then they would see the potential
of what it could be.

508
00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:29,960
And they would be behind it 100%.

509
00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:33,640
Can you give me a buzz back?
It would be good to chat about that.

510
00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:39,160
'It's been frustrating.'

511
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:41,200
(NUMBER BUSY CHIME)

512
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:45,520
AUTOMATED VOICE: "We're sorry.
Your call cannot be completed
as dialled.

513
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,760
Please change the number
and dial again..."

514
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,400
Tennis is kind of taking over
my life a little bit.

515
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:58,520
I'm playing twice
a week to get up to speed

516
00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:01,240
for the World Championships,
as well as trying to have meetings

517
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,160
with people and push ahead for
para-standing tennis in the future.

518
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:09,960
'Today is a big one.

519
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,400
I'm about to have a meeting at
the British Paralympic Association,

520
00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,480
to find out what the process is

521
00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,640
of getting para-standing tennis
into the Paralympics.

522
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:26,280
And if so, what we need to do
to get the ball rolling.

523
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,200
It's a long way to go to get it
into the Paralympics,

524
00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,560
but it would be nice to know
what direction to go in.

525
00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:41,600
You've just got to win them over,

526
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,600
one tiny disabled step at a time.'

527
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:47,640
(LAID-BACK LIFT MUSIC PLAYS)

528
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:59,040
'We needed some advice on what to
do next with para-standing tennis.'

529
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:00,880
Unofficially,

530
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,360
we wanted Nick from
the British Paralympic Association

531
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:05,720
to join the cult.

532
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,800
Or at least start
to drink the Kool Aid.

533
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,320
'I want him to go,

534
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:15,680
"Yes, para-standing tennis
is amazing.

535
00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:17,720
This needs to happen.'"

536
00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,480
So what would your advice to us be,

537
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,520
as far as, you know,
our end goal is

538
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,680
to try and get para-standing
tennis in the Paralympics?

539
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,040
For someone to come in,
someone's got to go out, OK?

540
00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:34,400
You have to apply
seven years before a games

541
00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:36,720
to get a new sport included.
Yeah.

542
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,760
You know, there's the issues
about quality.

543
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,280
So what's the standard?
Mm-hmm.

544
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,240
What's the quantity
of people playing?

545
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:46,840
Have you got a world ranking system?

546
00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:50,120
It felt like all the kids had gone,
"Hey, we're going to have a party!"

547
00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:52,120
And then the adults came in
and went,

548
00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:54,080
"And how are you going to pay
for that?"

549
00:30:55,320 --> 00:31:00,000
IVAN:

550
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,000
We've got two courses of action now.

551
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:17,880
We follow up with the ITF,
and then we work out

552
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:20,240
which Paralympic sport
we want to get rid of.

553
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:22,800
(LAUGHTER)

554
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:26,480
I will contact the ITF, and I'll
start bad-mouthing another sport.

555
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:30,920
'Whenever I go through
airport security,

556
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,920
my foot sets off a metal detector.'
(LAUGHTER)

557
00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:38,040
And last month, I played in the
European Championships in Barcelona.

558
00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:41,560
I was the first person to go
through security at the airport,

559
00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,520
but I knew there were another
29 disabled people behind me.

560
00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:46,520
And they stopped,
and they're looking at my foot,

561
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:48,880
and I just wanted to say to them,
"Strap in.

562
00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:52,920
It's going to be a long night."
Exactly!

563
00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:55,960
"There's a load of them,
and it's everything."

564
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,000
(LAUGHTER)

565
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:15,600
'It's the first ever

566
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:17,920
European Championships
of para-standing tennis.'

567
00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,240
It's the first
para-standing tennis tournament

568
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:25,920
to be supported by the ITF.

569
00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:29,240
Holy shit.

570
00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:32,520
'You've got three categories.

571
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,920
Mens and womens,
singles and doubles.

572
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:39,240
Literally no idea what to expect.'

573
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:42,640
Yeah, he looks really good.

574
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:46,000
'Because this is a new thing,

575
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,200
it's not like players are turning up
and you're like,

576
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:50,560
"I've seen you at that tournament
and played you

577
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,920
and I know what you're like."
None of us know what we are in for

578
00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,160
when we play each other.'

579
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,200
There is a guy down there
with cerebral palsy

580
00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:00,000
just belting it so cleanly.

581
00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:02,440
You've got a guy up this end
with one prosthetic

582
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:03,840
and another leg brace belting it,

583
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,480
and you look over there,
and you've got Nico

584
00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:08,800
with no arms.

585
00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,960
And he's such a strong player,
he's going to win his game.

586
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,720
Just when you think you've kind of
seen it all with this sport,

587
00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:16,760
you see a little bit more.

588
00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:26,760
Gonna go play now.
You're playing now?

589
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:28,800
I'm playing now, yeah.
Oh, shit.

590
00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,160
'I'm trying not to stress too much
about this one and just enjoy it.

591
00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:35,400
But at the same time,
I wanna put in a good showing.'

592
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:50,680
# AC/DC: Thunderstruck #

593
00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:59,560
I knew nothing about Wolfgang.

594
00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:01,880
I think he was playing mind games,

595
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:04,880
or maybe he just didn't have
a sense of humour.

596
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:17,600
UMPIRE:

597
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:21,679
UMPIRE: Hills, two games
to one.Good?WOLFGANG: OK.

598
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:27,880
WOLFGANG IN GERMAN:

599
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:32,400
UMPIRE:
(WOLFGANG GROANS)

600
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,600
ADAM:

601
00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:50,120
UMPIRE:

602
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,760
'I felt pretty confident
throughout the first set.'

603
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,800
Then, I don't know what happened.

604
00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:00,880
I think I got nervous.

605
00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:08,080
Yo.Oh, yo.
What up, bro?

606
00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:11,280
I think we need some time.

607
00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:14,400
I think we need a debrief
after my match yesterday.

608
00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:17,320
When we played in Melbourne,
you said just smile and have fun.

609
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:19,920
Yeah.And that's totally not
what I was doing yesterday.

610
00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:24,200
(GRUNTS)

611
00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:28,880
If you can take that belief
that you have on the stage,

612
00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:31,080
to this stage, you know?
Yeah.

613
00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:33,280
When that moment comes along,

614
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,440
you can smash this on the stage
in front of 100 people.

615
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,640
(WOLFGANG SHOUTS)

616
00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:40,880
Why can't I do it
on the tennis court?1,000 people.

617
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:43,360
In a big moment in front
of... yeah, 1,000 people.

618
00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:46,800
Why can't I do it on a tennis court
in front of seven people?Yeah.

619
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:08,160
ALEX: It's easy to be harsh
on yourself,

620
00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:11,560
and be pissed off, or gutted,
or sad, or whatever.

621
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,080
But this and us, and everyone here

622
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:15,960
being able to give back
to young kids.

623
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,520
They come and see us play
and they're like, "Oh, my God."

624
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:21,040
Like, "Maybe I could play that
one day."

625
00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:23,080
And they have a purpose,
they go out and train.

626
00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:25,320
And just take that belief with you

627
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:27,960
and, like, have fun. Put on a show.

628
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:34,560
When I turned up at the tournament,
people looked at me and went,

629
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:36,640
"So you're a comedian.
Is that right?"

630
00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:38,960
I was like, "Yeah, yeah."
Then after watching me play,

631
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,880
they were like,
"Yeah, yeah, you're the comedian."

632
00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:44,080
(LAUGHTER)
Ah, shit.

633
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:56,120
What is more important?
The comedy or the win?Comedy.

634
00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,120
Perfect.
Having fun?Parfait.

635
00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:01,920
We're here for fun.
Here for fun.

636
00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:03,480
We're here for laughs, not trophies.

637
00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:05,520
(BOTH CHUCKLE)

638
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:13,080
Do you know what? It feels like
I'm dating a really hot chick.

639
00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:16,760
(LAUGHS)Because, like, firstly,
everyone knows you,

640
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:19,760
and secondly, people are trying
to work out how I ended up with you.

641
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:21,960
(LAUGHTER)

642
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:26,400
Adam was pretty down after his
singles loss at the European Champs.

643
00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:28,600
I think I just had to remind him
to go out there

644
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:30,000
and have fun with no pressure.

645
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:34,920
Oh, I love the swing of that.

646
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:38,880
Oh, yes!

647
00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:42,000
I don't know what's happened.
I've never hit this many
in a match in my life.

648
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,400
The doubles matches were great.
I wouldn't say sailed through,

649
00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:47,920
but we won,
and we made it to the final.

650
00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:52,120
Wow. Well done, bro.

651
00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:57,400
Danke. Vielen dank.

652
00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:00,120
That was so good.
Too strong.

653
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:03,840
Honestly, after last night,
I was like, "What am I doing here?

654
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:06,360
I'm pretending
I know how to play tennis."

655
00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:09,000
This has been a whole step up
in class and, uh...

656
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:13,440
..and I'm very tired.

657
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:15,480
So I might cry. (CHUCKLES)

658
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:36,480
UMPIRE IN SPANISH:

659
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:22,880
ALEX:

660
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:33,840
ADAM:

661
00:39:45,080 --> 00:39:47,560
UMPIRE IN SPANISH:

662
00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:56,280
First ever loss.

663
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:58,560
Is this gonna be our first fight?

664
00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:01,440
(BOTH LAUGH)

665
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:04,680
You know,
it's that old saying, isn't it.

666
00:40:04,720 --> 00:40:07,360
"Win or learn."
And I think we learned.

667
00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:11,880
'After the Europeans,

668
00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:14,080
I had to remind myself,

669
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:17,680
it's not just about me, it's about
me promoting the sport as well.

670
00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:21,880
Alex was the one
that reminded me of that.

671
00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:25,480
We're not doing it for us,
we're doing it for them.'

672
00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:30,000
ANNOUNCER: So we will start
with the PST 2 category.

673
00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:34,000
Alex Hunt and Adam Hills.
There we go.

674
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:36,040
(APPLAUSE)

675
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:41,920
Well done, well done.
Thank you so much, thank you.

676
00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:49,880
Are you smiling?
I'm smiling.Good.

677
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:54,640
Thank you,
Catalonian Tennis Federation,

678
00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:58,240
because for us, it's very important.

679
00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:03,520
We're working hard and now need
to push the ITF a little bit more.

680
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:06,120
I called the ITF in 1988,

681
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:09,800
and the answer was, "Well, we are
starting with wheelchair.

682
00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:11,640
You could play wheelchair."

683
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:14,880
And that was the only option I had.

684
00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:17,000
1988.

685
00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:19,640
Today's 2024,

686
00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:23,400
and if we pick up the phone,
we get the same answer.

687
00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:26,760
I think they are far away
from what's their obligation

688
00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:28,760
and what they have to do.

689
00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:30,800
(APPLAUSE)

690
00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:59,000
As soon as I heard there was
someone there from the ITF,

691
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:00,600
I was like,
"I've got to talk to him".

692
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:03,920
I've got to corner him,
I've got to ask him, you know,

693
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:05,800
"What's going on?"
And try and push our cause.

694
00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:09,840
So you mention that the ITF are
interested in para-standing tennis.

695
00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:11,960
So, what are they doing?

696
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:14,840
Step by step, we have these events,
and that's a way

697
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:19,440
that the ITF is sanctioning these
events to promote para-standing.

698
00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:21,360
This year, we had 40 people,

699
00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:24,080
next year,
we have to have 80 to 100.

700
00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:28,040
At least they are serious about it.

701
00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:30,360
It might be five years
instead of one year,

702
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,960
but it means the ITF are looking at
a possible way of integrating this

703
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:37,880
into the International Tennis
Federation, which is huge.

704
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:42,000
I just kind of forgot we just played
in the first ever ITF tournament

705
00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:44,040
for para-standing tennis,

706
00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:46,960
and Alex and I
came runner-up in the doubles.

707
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:51,640
If there are para-standing tennis
record books,

708
00:42:51,680 --> 00:42:54,360
as far as the ITF goes,
our names are now in it.

709
00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:06,320
So, our plan now is to try
to get this to Wimbledon.

710
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,800
I know, right? And you can imagine
how difficult it is

711
00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:13,640
trying to break into Wimbledon.
(LAUGHS)

712
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:16,280
It might surprise you to know,
they're a bit stuffy!

713
00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:18,320
(LAUGHTER)

714
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:22,680
I've got an email here from Jamie,

715
00:43:22,720 --> 00:43:24,960
who's the tournament director
at Wimbledon.

716
00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:27,640
I kind of approached him,
basically asking

717
00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:30,280
if we could have
an exhibition match at Wimbledon.

718
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:34,760
Unsurprisingly, it's a no.

719
00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:39,800
"At Wimbledon, we have a
long-standing policy and principle

720
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:42,000
that only 'competition' matches
are played

721
00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:46,040
on the match courts during
the two weeks of the championships.

722
00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:49,280
There are many reasons for this..."
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

723
00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:53,680
(SIGHS DEEPLY)

724
00:43:57,400 --> 00:44:00,400
"We would be really interested
to meet with you directly

725
00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:04,080
and understand more firsthand
about what you're doing."

726
00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:10,720
It's very rare that
I have the need to iron anything,

727
00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:13,400
but I kind of figure...

728
00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:15,040
if you're going to Wimbledon,

729
00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:17,680
you should at least dress
like a grown-up.

730
00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:25,520
I don't think I need to punch in
the Wimbledon postcode

731
00:44:25,560 --> 00:44:28,560
cos everyone knows it's SW11.

732
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:30,800
No, SW17. Which one is it?

733
00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:33,000
(LAUGHS)

734
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:37,800
'Wimbledon. It's the holy grail.

735
00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:39,760
It's the grass courts.
It's the tradition.

736
00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:42,880
It's the name, "Wimbledon".

737
00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:47,640
That would be like walking
on hallowed turf.

738
00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:53,800
But the All England Tennis Club are
apparently a law unto themselves.

739
00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:02,960
One of the wheelchair players said,
"All the governing bodies are great,

740
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:05,920
but you're going to have
to make some noise yourself."

741
00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:10,000
Wheelchair tennis is brilliant, and
I love that Wimbledon have got

742
00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:11,760
wheelchair tennis players there.

743
00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:16,480
But it feels like the rest of us
are on the sidelines.

744
00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:21,320
We never thought
this thing was possible.'

745
00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:22,920
So you don't even dream about it.

746
00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:25,640
You don't even think about going
to Wimbledon because it's just...

747
00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:28,720
it's never going to happen,
because of your disability.

748
00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:32,240
And now to realise...

749
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:34,200
it's never going to happen
because of the type

750
00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:37,320
of disability that you've got...

751
00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:40,640
So now I'm starting to feel
a sense of injustice.

752
00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:45,400
'I kind of feel, like,
a big responsibility...

753
00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:50,200
..for para-standing tennis,
cos a lot rides on this meeting.'

754
00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:54,960
Which is hard because,
as an Australian and as a comedian,

755
00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:58,160
I'm not very good with people
in positions of authority.

756
00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:00,600
I kind of want to take
the mickey out of them.

757
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:04,600
You know, I guess my worry is
they're kind of...

758
00:46:05,400 --> 00:46:07,720
..almost going to see me
as being foolish.

759
00:46:19,720 --> 00:46:22,120
'Jamie, the tournament director,

760
00:46:22,160 --> 00:46:24,760
kept emphasising the tradition
of Wimbledon.'

761
00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:28,360
I think the line was,

762
00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:31,120
"We've been doing things this way
for 147 years,

763
00:46:31,160 --> 00:46:33,320
it's very hard to change them."

764
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:35,360
No promises were made.

765
00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:39,040
They're going to go away
and think about what can be done.

766
00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:56,640
Thank you so much for being here

767
00:46:56,680 --> 00:46:59,600
at this first para-standing tennis
world championship,

768
00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:01,520
sanctioned by ITF.

769
00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:18,360
70 people with disabilities,
and all disabilities,

770
00:47:18,400 --> 00:47:20,920
arms missing, legs missing,
cerebral palsy,

771
00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:22,760
short-statured, everything.

772
00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:24,400
Cos you've gotta know this,

773
00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:27,520
we never see that many
disabled people together in a room.

774
00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:29,560
It's freaky for us.

775
00:47:29,600 --> 00:47:31,680
A part of me was walking through
going, "Oh, my God,

776
00:47:31,720 --> 00:47:34,160
what a beautiful celebration of
humanity," another part was like,

777
00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:36,560
"It looks like the cantina scene
from Star Wars."

778
00:47:36,600 --> 00:47:38,760
(LAUGHTER)

779
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:41,640
World Championships, fresh start.

780
00:47:41,680 --> 00:47:43,960
Let's be honest, that's what
I was aiming for all along.

781
00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:47,360
First match is against Kemit.

782
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:51,040
There's nerves,
but I'm so glad it's you

783
00:47:51,080 --> 00:47:54,200
because I'm not as nervous.
OK.

784
00:47:54,240 --> 00:47:56,160
And by that I mean...
It's fun tennis.

785
00:47:56,200 --> 00:47:58,200
Yeah, yeah.

786
00:47:59,560 --> 00:48:03,600
If the stars align,
anyone can be taken out.

787
00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:05,400
(LAUGHS)

788
00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:20,200
Yup.

789
00:48:20,240 --> 00:48:22,840
Great point.
I got a point!

790
00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:28,120
No!

791
00:48:28,160 --> 00:48:29,640
Oh, come on.

792
00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:32,640
No!

793
00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:34,840
(APPLAUSE)

794
00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:44,600
Just so glad to win a singles match.

795
00:48:44,640 --> 00:48:47,960
After the Europeans, I didn't wanna
go out in the first round.

796
00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:50,520
I'm just glad I won a game.

797
00:48:55,960 --> 00:48:58,160
I'm going to support his dream
to be world champion.

798
00:48:58,200 --> 00:49:00,640
So we already talked, that he needs
to win the tournament

799
00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:02,680
now that he has taken me out.

800
00:49:07,360 --> 00:49:09,960
'I'm now in the second round.

801
00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:12,320
I'm playing Nicky Maxwell.

802
00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:16,560
So it's a little bit
more tense today.'

803
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:24,440
Good luck to you.

804
00:49:26,400 --> 00:49:29,600
Second round, I had to play...
I reckon he was 26.

805
00:49:29,640 --> 00:49:31,720
He was half my age,

806
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:33,960
and you know you're old

807
00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:37,320
when you're playing tennis
against someone, his mum's there,

808
00:49:37,360 --> 00:49:39,360
and she's younger than you.

809
00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:41,400
(LAUGHTER)

810
00:49:47,640 --> 00:49:49,760
Out.
'I lost the first set.'

811
00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:56,080
I was going for winners
and they weren't coming off.

812
00:49:58,320 --> 00:50:01,120
MAN: Oh!
(LAUGHTER)

813
00:50:02,920 --> 00:50:05,080
I said to myself, "Hit it solidly,

814
00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:07,600
and put the pressure on him."

815
00:50:07,640 --> 00:50:12,400
Oh, beautiful.
Great shot. Wow.

816
00:50:12,440 --> 00:50:14,440
Oh, my God, mate.

817
00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:20,600
I'll be honest, it paid off.

818
00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:22,760
That was amazing.
Good job.

819
00:50:28,120 --> 00:50:30,360
(LAUGHTER)

820
00:50:46,320 --> 00:50:48,520
'I feel like I deserve to be here.'

821
00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:52,240
The culmination
of 12 months of training...

822
00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:55,320
COACH: Remember everything
we talked about.

823
00:50:55,360 --> 00:50:56,920
..getting as fit as possible,

824
00:50:56,960 --> 00:50:59,440
focussing on tennis
above everything else...

825
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:00,880
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

826
00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:03,800
..all came down to this match.

827
00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:09,520
Hiya, how are you?
WOMAN:

828
00:51:09,560 --> 00:51:11,560
Pumped.

829
00:51:12,440 --> 00:51:14,440
Ivan.

830
00:51:15,560 --> 00:51:17,280
It's gonna be a good match.
Yeah.

831
00:51:18,960 --> 00:51:23,160
'Ivan Corretja, president of the
Para-Standing Tennis Association.

832
00:51:23,200 --> 00:51:25,040
He won the Europeans.

833
00:51:25,880 --> 00:51:27,840
This was a proper test.'

834
00:51:27,880 --> 00:51:29,880
Let's do it. I'll serve.

835
00:51:31,240 --> 00:51:33,680
'Either I go out
and my tournament's over...

836
00:51:36,760 --> 00:51:39,080
..or he does.'

837
00:52:05,080 --> 00:52:07,000
MAN: Aw, bad luck.

838
00:52:07,040 --> 00:52:09,040
(APPLAUSE)

839
00:52:12,920 --> 00:52:14,600
Yeah.

840
00:52:25,960 --> 00:52:27,520
Yeah.

841
00:52:59,640 --> 00:53:01,920
'It was bittersweet.
It was bittersweet.

842
00:53:08,360 --> 00:53:11,600
Made it to the top eight.
Quarter finals.

843
00:53:12,360 --> 00:53:14,560
Played the world number one.

844
00:53:14,600 --> 00:53:17,240
I got a game off him.'

845
00:53:17,280 --> 00:53:19,400
It was a good run,
I'm happy for it to...

846
00:53:20,840 --> 00:53:22,640
..I'm not sad
about the way it ended,

847
00:53:22,680 --> 00:53:25,200
I'm proud of the way it ended.

848
00:53:30,800 --> 00:53:32,360
Do you want a shower?

849
00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:42,640
Yes. yes. You were my biggest fan
but I'll take it.

850
00:53:42,680 --> 00:53:44,600
Ahh.

851
00:53:44,640 --> 00:53:47,480
Ah, I should have had that
during the points.

852
00:53:47,520 --> 00:53:51,160
'My dad was the first person
to teach me how to play tennis,

853
00:53:51,200 --> 00:53:53,200
and my kids were here watching me.'

854
00:53:55,080 --> 00:53:58,200
I'm happiest that they saw me,

855
00:53:58,240 --> 00:54:00,040
you know, play with a smile
on my face.

856
00:54:02,280 --> 00:54:04,520
'Cos that's
what it's about, isn't it?'

857
00:54:15,680 --> 00:54:18,280
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

858
00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:27,200
This tournament last year,
we had how many players? 30?

859
00:54:27,240 --> 00:54:30,400
So we are more than twice
as big this year,

860
00:54:30,440 --> 00:54:32,880
the number of countries has grown.

861
00:54:32,920 --> 00:54:35,720
The number
of female players is higher.

862
00:54:35,760 --> 00:54:38,320
The number of disabilities
is higher.

863
00:54:38,360 --> 00:54:41,640
All of the diversity
that we need in the sport,

864
00:54:41,680 --> 00:54:43,840
also, it's early days.

865
00:54:43,880 --> 00:54:47,080
And we are learning
about this process as we go.

866
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:51,800
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

867
00:54:51,840 --> 00:54:54,720
ANNOUNCER: From Brazil,
Thalita Rodrigues.

868
00:54:56,520 --> 00:55:00,600
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT)

869
00:55:00,640 --> 00:55:03,720
I found out about para-standing
tennis about a year ago.

870
00:55:06,960 --> 00:55:10,440
It feels like this is the time
that it's about to take-off.

871
00:55:11,520 --> 00:55:13,520
Thank you all...

872
00:55:13,560 --> 00:55:16,600
The more people see others do,

873
00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:19,760
the more they're going to be
empowered to step on a court.

874
00:55:21,440 --> 00:55:23,880
The British Paralympic Association,

875
00:55:23,920 --> 00:55:27,080
they told us what we need
to become a Paralympic sport.

876
00:55:27,120 --> 00:55:30,760
We need quality,
and I think we agree we've got that.

877
00:55:30,800 --> 00:55:32,960
We've got great quality of players.
(APPLAUSE)

878
00:55:38,720 --> 00:55:41,800
ALEX: I feel could help
younger kids

879
00:55:41,840 --> 00:55:44,400
and the next generation
of people missing a limb,

880
00:55:44,440 --> 00:55:46,600
or even able-bodied people realise

881
00:55:46,640 --> 00:55:49,160
that there's no boundaries,
you know, you can do anything.

882
00:55:51,160 --> 00:55:55,560
We need universality, which means
loads of countries playing it,

883
00:55:55,600 --> 00:55:57,600
and I think we've got that.

884
00:55:57,640 --> 00:56:00,880
(CHEERING)

885
00:56:00,920 --> 00:56:03,760
We are disabled, we've been
in groups with others that aren't,

886
00:56:03,800 --> 00:56:06,360
and we've always had
to explain stuff, and here we don't,

887
00:56:06,400 --> 00:56:08,120
we just come in and focus on tennis,

888
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:11,400
and that's the beauty
of para-standing tennis.

889
00:56:11,440 --> 00:56:14,080
'Normally, when someone meets
a disabled person, they're like,

890
00:56:14,120 --> 00:56:17,520
"Oh, what happened to your foot?
When did you lose it? How?"

891
00:56:17,560 --> 00:56:19,240
And then they get to know you.'
'Yeah.'

892
00:56:19,280 --> 00:56:21,040
'This week has been the opposite.'
'Yeah.'

893
00:56:21,080 --> 00:56:23,400
'It's like, "Oh, you hit
a mean forehand. That's amazing,

894
00:56:23,440 --> 00:56:25,440
when did you start playing tennis?"'

895
00:56:27,240 --> 00:56:29,240
(THEY LAUGH)

896
00:56:32,920 --> 00:56:34,920
'We've all got that feeling.'

897
00:56:35,880 --> 00:56:37,880
None of us are...

898
00:56:39,120 --> 00:56:41,120
..none of us are different anymore.

899
00:56:49,000 --> 00:56:52,280
The final thing we need is quantity,
number of players.

900
00:56:52,320 --> 00:56:56,640
Wheelchair tennis has
maybe 2,000 players in the world.

901
00:56:56,680 --> 00:56:58,680
So that's where we need to be.

902
00:57:00,720 --> 00:57:03,120
Wimbledon... are difficult,

903
00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:06,800
but Wimbledon know
about para-standing tennis.

904
00:57:06,840 --> 00:57:10,840
The more we talk about it,
that's how we get bigger and bigger.

905
00:57:10,880 --> 00:57:12,880
(APPLAUSE)

906
00:57:31,520 --> 00:57:33,640
ALEX:

907
00:57:48,640 --> 00:57:51,600
G'day.
JAMIE: How you doing? Welcome back.

908
00:57:51,640 --> 00:57:54,400
So, we met a few months ago and
talked about para-standing tennis,

909
00:57:54,440 --> 00:57:57,240
and you didn't wanna commit
to anything straightaway,

910
00:57:57,280 --> 00:57:59,320
which I totally understand.
Being honest,

911
00:57:59,360 --> 00:58:01,920
if we hadn't had that conversation,
this wouldn't have happened.

912
00:58:09,480 --> 00:58:12,080
As a kid, you were a tennis player,
you wanted to play tennis,

913
00:58:12,120 --> 00:58:14,600
you had a disability,

914
00:58:14,640 --> 00:58:16,600
your only option was to be
in a wheelchair.

915
00:58:17,680 --> 00:58:19,960
That was a light bulb moment
in that meeting for me.

916
00:58:20,920 --> 00:58:22,960
ALEX:

917
00:58:27,160 --> 00:58:28,480
You, partner. Oh, yeah.

918
00:58:28,520 --> 00:58:30,520
Oh!
(LAUGHTER)

919
00:58:39,240 --> 00:58:41,640
Not deep enough. Fudge.

920
00:58:42,960 --> 00:58:45,760
I think, in the last 12 months,
to see it being introduced to

921
00:58:45,800 --> 00:58:48,480
Play Your Way To Wimbledon,
the International Tennis Federation

922
00:58:48,520 --> 00:58:51,880
now looking
at incorporating it worldwide...

923
00:58:51,920 --> 00:58:55,600
it feels like an idea
has become a movement.

924
00:58:57,400 --> 00:58:59,880
It's been a hell of a journey.

925
00:58:59,920 --> 00:59:01,920
Wow.

926
00:59:03,880 --> 00:59:06,280
Should we mark it
with a selfie, then?Yeah.

927
00:59:09,320 --> 00:59:11,720
Now what?
That's it.

928
00:59:18,880 --> 00:59:22,320
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