The following programme contains strong language.
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(ADAM WHISTLES)
'As a comedian,
it's most fun to have a ridiculous idea,
then see how far you can take it.
I think that's exactly what this journey is.'
ANNOUNCER: We have a very special show tonight.
Please put your hands together for Adam Hills!
Hi.
'Adam Hills is a comedian, a TV presenter...
Would you like me to do the thing?
'..a dad, a husband...'
..who harbours deep-seated longings to be a sports star.
(LAUGHS)
'I always wanted to play tennis.
The aim when I first started was to be world number one.'
That's pretty good. (LAUGHS)
Yeah, this isn't going to go well, is it?
'The trickiest part of that is, there was no way for people
with disabilities like mine...'
Hey, we're all disabled here. '..to play tennis at a high level.
Oh, Ben! Yeah!
But then I found something called para-standing tennis.
(ALL CHEER)
My mission: Have para-standing tennis
played at the Grand Slam tournaments,
have it a part of the Paralympics,
and an ongoing quest for world domination.
(BICYCLE BELL RINGS)
'If you want to get back into a sport you haven't played for years,
contact an old mate, who had said to you in the past,
"If ever you want to hit some tennis balls, get in touch,"
so I got in touch.'
I mean, I went straight to the top, but I got in touch.
(CHEERING)ANNOUNCER: Game, set and match, Cash.
(CHUCKLES) Hey mate, how's life?
How you been? Yeah, really good.
Saw you on the box the other day.
Really?The other night, yeah. Was I making you laugh?
Yeah. Yeah, it was funny.
What's the secret of playing on clay?
Never miss a ball and run forever.
(LAUGHS)
Simple.
I'm going to have to put on a different leg.
Right, I'm going to be taping mine to keep it stiff
and you're taping your...? I'm taping mine to keep it on.
(BOTH LAUGH) Exactly.
I'm starting to get back into tennis
by hitting with someone who has won Wimbledon.Yeah. (LAUGHS)
That's good!
Shall we just leave the leg there? That looks alright, right? Oof.
If you don't know, I was born without a right foot.
OK? Prosthetic from the knee down.
I have to show that cos sometimes people gasp.
The first question is normally, "How did you lose it?"
Unless I'm outside of Australia, then the first question is,
"Was it a shark?" (LAUGHTER)
And it's really disappointing that it wasn't a shark.
There's no good story attached to me losing my foot,
I just lost it at birth, basically.
I mean, I didn't lose it, it's not behind the couch.
Oof.
Yes. Well done.
It feels so weird. Yeah.
I'm getting there, though. It will for a bit.
You're getting used to it pretty quickly.
Yes! You've got the clay courter's forehand.
Have I? That's pretty good.
That was the best rally I've hit in ages, thank you.
I think having a hit with Pat, and it just re-awoke
the tennis bug, and it kind of made me wonder,
"Where do I fit into tennis now?"
Do you remember...
Swan Premium Open, about 1986/87?
Ah yeah, in Sydney?
You came down one end to serve and there was sawdust
all over the court, and there was a ballboy who cleaned it up.
And you came out and you went, "You missed a bit".
OK.
And that... that little ballboy was me.
No, was it really? (LAUGHS)
I remember...You were ball-boying there that tournament?
So you told me to go back and do another bit,
and in front of the whole crowd and TV cameras,
I'm just sweeping sawdust off the court
until you went, "Yeah, that's better."
All these years, I've thought...
"..I didn't miss a bit. I knew I didn't miss a bit."
You probably didn't miss a bit. You probably didn't!
I was just screwing with Lendl.
(LAUGHS)
So I've been asked for years, you know,
"Would you consider playing in a wheelchair?" It doesn't feel fair.
Right.And also, I'd have to get used to using a wheelchair.
Cos whenever I have played on court,
and the ball goes short, you move your legs instead of your arms.
(BOTH LAUGH)
'There is no tennis at a higher level
for people with disabilities like mine.'
If you're able-bodied,
you can play tennis against able-bodied people.
If you're in a wheelchair, you can play against people in a wheelchair.
If I want to play tennis against people like me
with similar disabilities...
..I literally can't. The only way I can do that is
to get into a wheelchair and play wheelchair tennis.
KID: Yes. ADAM:
KID:
ADAM:
Who am I?
I'm a clown. That's what I am.
No! (LAUGHS)
KID: OK, thank you. (LAUGHS)
I'm a clown for grown-ups, is how my daughter once described it.
But when I was a kid, I wanted to be a tennis player.
That's the job I wanted.
I started being coached when I was five.
I stood up in front of my class when I was nine and told them all
that I was going to play at Wimbledon.
And then when I was 12, I started playing competitive tennis.
I've always played against able-bodied adults.
In a weird way, I probably saw it as a...
..maybe a badge of pride, if I could beat someone who was able-bodied.
Because I never, never wanted to refer to myself as disabled.
Partly because I'm not missing that much.
Doesn't stop me from doing that much.
But also, I don't know, I didn't think of myself as disabled.
In the last few years, every little now and again,
I'd go online and Google "disability tennis",
just to see if there was a way in for me.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHS)
Recently, I've found there's this thing called "para-standing tennis."
There's this underground movement around the world
of people wanting to play tennis,
who've got disabilities, that aren't in wheelchairs.
And they've been, like, whispering about it for years.
It's almost... it's like Fight Club.
(LAUGHTER) You know, the first rule is,
you don't mention it, the second rule is,
you make it fucking accessible.
(LAUGHTER)
I know a lot about disability sport,
and I had to search so hard
to find anything about para-standing tennis.
(HUMS "SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE" BY CREAM)
# CREAM: Sunshine of Your Love #
'There are about 400 para-standing tennis players
in the world right now, from 30 different countries.
There must be more than 400 players out there.'
"Since wheelchair tennis started, as a demonstration event
at the 1988 Paralympics, the sport has not expanded
to include different classifications for different disabilities,
like many other Paralympic sports have."
So why have other Paralympic sports expanded and not tennis?
'It's not at the Grand Slams.
The ITF, the International Tennis Federation, they don't support it.
It's not part of the Paralympics.'
Wheelchair tennis exists,
why isn't there para-standing tennis?
The steps were so easy to see.
ITF, Paralympics, Grand Slams.
Boom. It's all there.
'So this is Kai.
I love the headline, "Wants to win gold at the Paralympics,
but the current rules won't let him."'
I looked online at the beginning of the year, and there was an article
of this short-statured guy,
17-year-old, short-statured Australian kid,
he's about this high, his name's Kai.
He wants to play tennis at the Paralympics for Australia.
So I started following this guy on Instagram.
And then two weeks later, he messaged me and said,
"My dad wants to talk to you".
(LAUGHTER)
Yeah, this isn't going to go well, is it!
So I messaged his dad, and his dad was like,
"Oh, hey, do you want to play disability tennis?
Because there's this whole tournament that I'm organising."
And I was like, "Well, that went better than I thought!"
(LAUGHTER)
Comedy is like flying a plane,
you have to build up your flying hours.
'I think that's going to go for tennis as well.
You know, the more balls I hit, the better I'll get at it.'
This is the first ever para-standing tennis come-and-try day
at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.
It's never been done before in the UK so it's really kind of exciting.
'This is, like, the first chance I got to see
what para-standing tennis was all about.'
National Tennis Centre, eh?
It just got real.
G'day.
Welcome to the National Tennis Centre.
This is the first of its kind in the UK.
This is the first ever para-standing tennis festival
we have ever done.
'There's not been a para-standing tennis event
in England, ever.'
Hopefully, a day like the NTC come-and-try day,
that propels it all forward.
Ahh, Ben! Yeah!
(ALL LAUGH)
Hey, mate. Yeah, I'm alright. How are you doing?
I was watching you on the TV last night, it would have been.
Oh, yeah, it would have been. Yeah.
I'm exhausted. I've only had, like, four hours sleep.
So what's going on here?
If you've got a disability and want to play tennis at the moment,
you have to be in a wheelchair. OK.
There's a bunch of people here who don't use wheelchairs.
They're like, "I want to play someone like me."
Because there's, like, Paralympians who are like,
"If I could do this at the Paralympics, there's no way I'd swim."
(BOTH LAUGH)
Wheelchair tennis is great, and it's at all the Grand Slams,
and the Paralympics, and the ITF, and everything.
And I kind of feel like...
.."tennis" went, "Good, well, we've got disabilities covered."
What if you've got one arm? You can't use a wheelchair.
Or if you're short-statured, or you have cerebral palsy,
or if you're like me, you don't normally use a wheelchair?
OK. I'm going to be really honest.
All morning, I heard people warming up on that court over there
while we were playing. And they were like... (GRUNTS)
And I was like, "Who's that wanker?"
And Andy Murray walks through the curtain!
Oh, him. Oh. Double Wimbledon champion.
OK. That was amazing.
That's, like, the dream for what you want
for all of these people who have turned up for the first time
playing para-standing tennis.
Big cheer on three, everyone, arms up in the air.
(ALL CHEER)
When we left that come-and-try day, I was like, "Great,
OK, I want to do everything I can to make sure people know
about this sport, so I wanna put an even bigger spotlight on it."
The Grand Slams are where para-standing tennis has to be.
Hello and welcome to day one of the Australian Open.
The gates have been flung open to Melbourne park.
The gang's all here. Morning.
Let's get this show underway.
Oh, my God, the Australian Open.
When you say Australian Open, I think...
..Pat Cash.COMMENTATOR: Cash is back in business!
John Newcombe.
Stefan Edberg.
Telling people about the sport is one thing,
it has to be at the Grand Slams.
We've gotta have something to aim at.
COMMENTATOR: Oh, stunning. COMMENTATOR 2: No way!
He has fired that... Come on!
We've seen it all!
What a fantastic week we have seen.
(TRAIN HORN TOOTS)
'We are at Grace Park Tennis Club in Hawthorn, in Melbourne,
for the first ever para-standing tennis tournament in Australia.
There are four different categories.
Twenty-two players, from Australia,
New Zealand, Chile, Brazil, Japan.'
This is amazing. Hi!
Hi, I'm Sarah.Hi, Sarah, nice to meet you. Hey, how are you?
What's the right hand shake with that?
How do you operate that?
What? (LAUGHTER)
'It's kind of a massive deal.
So, the Australian Open is on at the same time.
So, the idea was, let's run this tournament
at the same time as the Australian Open.'
Kid just said to me, "Are you the guy that has got 3 ATP points?"
And I was like, "No, that's him down there."
(LAUGHTER)
'This is it.
My first glimpse into what para-standing tennis was all about.
It was my first time at Fight Club.'
Thank you very much, that was an absolute ripper.
Thank you very much, mate.
'I'm going to sit here for another hour, hour and a half
cos I don't think I can move.'
WOMAN: Want me to lift you?
There are some really good para-standing tennis players out there.
So what are you missing?
Oh, wow. Do you want to find it?
I can't beat this guy, he's missing a fingertip,
on top of everything else!
My name is Kemit-Amon Lewis, I'm a quadruple amputee.
Full on the right, and partial on both on the left.
(LAUGHTER)
I became an amputee in 2019,
and all of my friends said, "Well, you can play wheelchair tennis."
And I was like, "Well, you kind of need hands to roll the chair."
There's a weird thing that goes on when you're playing
a guy with one leg, where you're looking at each other,
like, "Who's going to hit the first drop shot?"
(LAUGHTER)
And you're hitting away, and you're hitting forehands
and then you're hitting backhands, and then one of them goes, "Dink!"
And you go, "Oh, it's fucking game on."
'Kemit and I hit it off straightaway,
but there was always that underlying thing of...
"But we've got to play tennis against each other"'.
'The Melbourne tournament was the first one that I've played.'
Like, how did I not know that this existed before?
'To me, Adam is my "frival",
friend and rival, does that work?'
'It's kind of like, should we become friends
or are we going to be enemies? I'm not entirely sure.'
'It's really interesting being surrounded
by people with disabilities because...
there's a shared experience
that you don't necessarily have to talk about.'
Whether it's someone who's born with no arms,
or somebody who lost a leg, or somebody who's got cerebral palsy.
You know and they know,
and you don't have to have that discussion.
You just know that you both come from the same place.
Or a similar place.
'My name's Alex Hunt, I'm from New Zealand.
I was born with one arm.
Adam Hills: Foot Fault.'
Did he hit any foot faults? Probably.
And I've been playing tennis my whole life.
So I got a message saying
Alex Hunt wants to play doubles with you in Melbourne.
I wasn't entirely sure why he wanted to play tennis with me.
I got asked to play doubles with this guy called Adam Hills.
EMMA:
Oh, interesting!
I feel like an idiot, but I had no idea who he was.
Great serve.
'This is a guy who made the top 2,000 in the world
in professional tennis.'
MAN: Come on. WOMAN: Come on.
God! That's a shitty thing to do to a guy
with one leg, but it's less shitty...
As soon as I did it I was like, "What are you doing?"
It's less shitty when you're playing with a guy with one leg.
Yeah, true. Hey, we're all disabled here.
Won the singles, won the doubles.
I was feeling pretty good about myself.
MAN:
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
You actually both won the singles, too.
I'm going to say something I said a lot during the game. Yours!
(LAUGHTER)
'Everyone wants to be part of a tribe, right?
But none of us knew that there was even a tribe that existed.
There's a certain power to disability sport
that never ceases to amaze me.'
(LAUGHTER)
Realistically, the aim was to get back into playing tennis
but now, European Championships in Barcelona,
World Championships in Turin...
I want to win it, if I can,
and I want to work towards becoming world number one.
JUDY HILLS:
Do you want to wash these first?
Oh, yeah, let's do that.
But the tennis is coming back to you, you've always played tennis.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's all in there.
Yeah. It's just a matter of remembering.
Well, you're a lot older. Shut up.
The cockatoos will come and sit on the balcony.
So remember, when Dad died, in 2012,
remember the next morning we woke up and there was a kookaburra
sitting on the ramp out the front, and hung around
for two or three days.
And we always said Dad had come back as a kookaburra.
We used to say that. They come back in the next life.
(KOOKABURRA CALLS)
There you go. He's just saying thank you.
(BOTH LAUGH)
I think this one.
I always bemoaned the amount of crap you kept but...
Oh. It's all yours.
I know, but look at this.
Let's check out this box.
Oh, that's a gymnastics trophy. Most improved award.
1991, Saturday mixed.
C3 Saturday mixed.
What's that?
Most improved.
I think that's more like "Thanks for coming."
Dad was the tennis player, wasn't he?Yeah.Yeah.
Yeah. So, if he was alive,
we'd probably still be playing tennis now.
I think he'd be very proud of you now.
Yeah.
And I think all of this, all of the tennis,
and all of this kind of stuff, I kind of feel like...
It's because of him. Yeah.
Cos when I look at all of this, I kind of realise
how much tennis was a part of my life.
It makes me glad that I found tennis again.
And that I found a way to get back into tennis again.
Yeah, it's just...
It's exciting to be a part of it all again.
It's good. It's all fallen into place.
Yeah. It has all fallen into place.
We put our own tournament on in January of this year,
the same time as the Australian Open in Melbourne.
And cos it was on at the same time as the Australian Open,
they kind of went, "Well, that looks alright."
So they had an exhibition match that I took part in
against a guy called Dylan Alcott,
who's, like, one of the best wheelchair tennis players ever,
and a few pro players, so that's starting to happen as well.
The French Open... couldn't give a fuck.
(LAUGHTER)
'I had to keep reminding myself I'm not just here to play tennis,
I'm also here to promote para-standing tennis.'
I don't want to ruin the moment by saying shit just got realer,
but, like, it really did.
'A year ago, I had read about para-standing tennis.
Now, we're on the Kia Arena...
..at the Australian Open, about to play an exhibition match.'
I'm about to play against one of the best
wheelchair tennis players there's ever been, Dylan Alcott.
COMMENTATOR: Dylan Alcott is a Wimbledon Champion!
This is nuts. This is huge.
Like, this is huge for the sport.
When I started getting involved with para-standing tennis, my first thought was
"How are wheelchair players going to react to it?"
Well, it depends if you kick my arse in the next half an hour.
So when you beat me, I'll hate you for it.
OK, alright.Mate, I'm all about inclusion, so are you.
So, everyone deserves to play the sport in whatever way they can.
And I think there's been, in the past...
I guess you tell me, a pressure, if you've got one leg,
you play in a wheelchair. Yeah, yeah.
I think if people want to have a crack on their feet,
you have the right to play in any way you want.
The weird thing is, for me, I always thought,
"I technically could get in a wheelchair."
But if you're short-statured, or you've got one arm, or cerebral palsy,
you can't necessarily use a wheelchair.
They aren't for everybody. I love it, I'd be screwed without it.
I'm not very good at standing tennis, personally, um,
but the fact that, you know, the fact that you're leading this, mate,
which I'm very proud to be a small part of today,
is awesome, and who knows?
Imagine in five years if there's para-standing at Paralympics,
Wimbledon, Aus Open, whatever, but...
if you beat me today, I'm going to campaign against you playing.
No worries. OK, understood. Because wheelchair is my zone.
And if you come steal my thunder again,
I mean, I'm left with nothing out here, right?
I'm going to get into comedy maybe.
As far as I know, this is the first time
that para-standing tennis has had this much coverage.
This is huge for the sport.
It's the Australian Open, it's broadcast around the world.
This is what we wanted, for more people to know about it.
WOMAN: Alright, let's go, Dylan.
Attack his weakness which is his right leg, let's go.
I got you, mate. Oof!
Oh, me! Me, me, me! One bounce!
Ooh. Izzy with the winner, Love 30.
A kid just asked for an autograph, and I signed it,
and I said, "Who's your favourite tennis player?"
And she said, "You are, Adam."
Oh, I've got it still.
Oh, watch out, Adam!
Oh!
And I went, "Who's your favourite proper tennis player?"
And she said, "Dylan." That's nice.
I should point out all the para-standing tennis players
who played in the championships over the weekend are
at that end of the court.
Was tennis always your thing?
What saved my life was playing sport,
because I met people like me. I met my community,
I met my tribe. I met other people with a disability
who were loving their life, and I thought, "Maybe I can do that too."
I'm scared! Ah!
You're actually not bad out here!
Oh, no. You!
That's beautiful!
Wah! Come on!
What is that?
Para-standing tennis is the new tennis that we want to get up
and running, for people with disabilities
who don't use a wheelchair, so we are just absolutely over the moon
that you've come out to watch this. Thank you, everyone!
(APPLAUSE)
'There was such a high coming back from Australia.
It was like... like the summer of tennis love.'
ANNOUNCER: Adam Hills! Wah!
'But then the, kind of, reality of bureaucracy hit.
The tennis federations, the organisations
that we needed to jump on board...
..weren't as loved up as we were.'
AUTOMATED VOICE: "Louise can't take your call right now.
Just leave your message after the tone."
Hey, Louise, it's Adam Hills calling.
I just wanted to follow up with you
about something we talked about at the NTC.
I'm trying to contact Andy Murray on his Twitter.
It's Adam Hills, trying to get para-standing tennis
into Invictus.
"Hey, Andy, great to meet you at the NTC.
We would love to try and take this sport further.
Would you be interested in approaching the ITF with us?"
If they could see what para-standing tennis is,
then they would see the potential of what it could be.
And they would be behind it 100%.
Can you give me a buzz back? It would be good to chat about that.
'It's been frustrating.'
(NUMBER BUSY CHIME)
AUTOMATED VOICE: "We're sorry. Your call cannot be completed as dialled.
Please change the number and dial again..."
Tennis is kind of taking over my life a little bit.
I'm playing twice a week to get up to speed
for the World Championships, as well as trying to have meetings
with people and push ahead for para-standing tennis in the future.
'Today is a big one.
I'm about to have a meeting at the British Paralympic Association,
to find out what the process is
of getting para-standing tennis into the Paralympics.
And if so, what we need to do to get the ball rolling.
It's a long way to go to get it into the Paralympics,
but it would be nice to know what direction to go in.
You've just got to win them over,
one tiny disabled step at a time.'
(LAID-BACK LIFT MUSIC PLAYS)
'We needed some advice on what to do next with para-standing tennis.'
Unofficially,
we wanted Nick from the British Paralympic Association
to join the cult.
Or at least start to drink the Kool Aid.
'I want him to go,
"Yes, para-standing tennis is amazing.
This needs to happen.'"
So what would your advice to us be,
as far as, you know, our end goal is
to try and get para-standing tennis in the Paralympics?
For someone to come in, someone's got to go out, OK?
You have to apply seven years before a games
to get a new sport included. Yeah.
You know, there's the issues about quality.
So what's the standard? Mm-hmm.
What's the quantity of people playing?
Have you got a world ranking system?
It felt like all the kids had gone, "Hey, we're going to have a party!"
And then the adults came in and went,
"And how are you going to pay for that?"
IVAN:
We've got two courses of action now.
We follow up with the ITF, and then we work out
which Paralympic sport we want to get rid of.
(LAUGHTER)
I will contact the ITF, and I'll start bad-mouthing another sport.
'Whenever I go through airport security,
my foot sets off a metal detector.' (LAUGHTER)
And last month, I played in the European Championships in Barcelona.
I was the first person to go through security at the airport,
but I knew there were another 29 disabled people behind me.
And they stopped, and they're looking at my foot,
and I just wanted to say to them, "Strap in.
It's going to be a long night." Exactly!
"There's a load of them, and it's everything."
(LAUGHTER)
'It's the first ever
European Championships of para-standing tennis.'
It's the first para-standing tennis tournament
to be supported by the ITF.
Holy shit.
'You've got three categories.
Mens and womens, singles and doubles.
Literally no idea what to expect.'
Yeah, he looks really good.
'Because this is a new thing,
it's not like players are turning up and you're like,
"I've seen you at that tournament and played you
and I know what you're like." None of us know what we are in for
when we play each other.'
There is a guy down there with cerebral palsy
just belting it so cleanly.
You've got a guy up this end with one prosthetic
and another leg brace belting it,
and you look over there, and you've got Nico
with no arms.
And he's such a strong player, he's going to win his game.
Just when you think you've kind of seen it all with this sport,
you see a little bit more.
Gonna go play now. You're playing now?
I'm playing now, yeah. Oh, shit.
'I'm trying not to stress too much about this one and just enjoy it.
But at the same time, I wanna put in a good showing.'
# AC/DC: Thunderstruck #
I knew nothing about Wolfgang.
I think he was playing mind games,
or maybe he just didn't have a sense of humour.
UMPIRE:
UMPIRE: Hills, two games to one.Good?WOLFGANG: OK.
WOLFGANG IN GERMAN:
UMPIRE: (WOLFGANG GROANS)
ADAM:
UMPIRE:
'I felt pretty confident throughout the first set.'
Then, I don't know what happened.
I think I got nervous.
Yo.Oh, yo. What up, bro?
I think we need some time.
I think we need a debrief after my match yesterday.
When we played in Melbourne, you said just smile and have fun.
Yeah.And that's totally not what I was doing yesterday.
(GRUNTS)
If you can take that belief that you have on the stage,
to this stage, you know? Yeah.
When that moment comes along,
you can smash this on the stage in front of 100 people.
(WOLFGANG SHOUTS)
Why can't I do it on the tennis court?1,000 people.
In a big moment in front of... yeah, 1,000 people.
Why can't I do it on a tennis court in front of seven people?Yeah.
ALEX: It's easy to be harsh on yourself,
and be pissed off, or gutted, or sad, or whatever.
But this and us, and everyone here
being able to give back to young kids.
They come and see us play and they're like, "Oh, my God."
Like, "Maybe I could play that one day."
And they have a purpose, they go out and train.
And just take that belief with you
and, like, have fun. Put on a show.
When I turned up at the tournament, people looked at me and went,
"So you're a comedian. Is that right?"
I was like, "Yeah, yeah." Then after watching me play,
they were like, "Yeah, yeah, you're the comedian."
(LAUGHTER) Ah, shit.
What is more important? The comedy or the win?Comedy.
Perfect. Having fun?Parfait.
We're here for fun. Here for fun.
We're here for laughs, not trophies.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
Do you know what? It feels like I'm dating a really hot chick.
(LAUGHS)Because, like, firstly, everyone knows you,
and secondly, people are trying to work out how I ended up with you.
(LAUGHTER)
Adam was pretty down after his singles loss at the European Champs.
I think I just had to remind him to go out there
and have fun with no pressure.
Oh, I love the swing of that.
Oh, yes!
I don't know what's happened. I've never hit this many in a match in my life.
The doubles matches were great. I wouldn't say sailed through,
but we won, and we made it to the final.
Wow. Well done, bro.
Danke. Vielen dank.
That was so good. Too strong.
Honestly, after last night, I was like, "What am I doing here?
I'm pretending I know how to play tennis."
This has been a whole step up in class and, uh...
..and I'm very tired.
So I might cry. (CHUCKLES)
UMPIRE IN SPANISH:
ALEX:
ADAM:
UMPIRE IN SPANISH:
First ever loss.
Is this gonna be our first fight?
(BOTH LAUGH)
You know, it's that old saying, isn't it.
"Win or learn." And I think we learned.
'After the Europeans,
I had to remind myself,
it's not just about me, it's about me promoting the sport as well.
Alex was the one that reminded me of that.
We're not doing it for us, we're doing it for them.'
ANNOUNCER: So we will start with the PST 2 category.
Alex Hunt and Adam Hills. There we go.
(APPLAUSE)
Well done, well done. Thank you so much, thank you.
Are you smiling? I'm smiling.Good.
Thank you, Catalonian Tennis Federation,
because for us, it's very important.
We're working hard and now need to push the ITF a little bit more.
I called the ITF in 1988,
and the answer was, "Well, we are starting with wheelchair.
You could play wheelchair."
And that was the only option I had.
1988.
Today's 2024,
and if we pick up the phone, we get the same answer.
I think they are far away from what's their obligation
and what they have to do.
(APPLAUSE)
As soon as I heard there was someone there from the ITF,
I was like, "I've got to talk to him".
I've got to corner him, I've got to ask him, you know,
"What's going on?" And try and push our cause.
So you mention that the ITF are interested in para-standing tennis.
So, what are they doing?
Step by step, we have these events, and that's a way
that the ITF is sanctioning these events to promote para-standing.
This year, we had 40 people,
next year, we have to have 80 to 100.
At least they are serious about it.
It might be five years instead of one year,
but it means the ITF are looking at a possible way of integrating this
into the International Tennis Federation, which is huge.
I just kind of forgot we just played in the first ever ITF tournament
for para-standing tennis,
and Alex and I came runner-up in the doubles.
If there are para-standing tennis record books,
as far as the ITF goes, our names are now in it.
So, our plan now is to try to get this to Wimbledon.
I know, right? And you can imagine how difficult it is
trying to break into Wimbledon. (LAUGHS)
It might surprise you to know, they're a bit stuffy!
(LAUGHTER)
I've got an email here from Jamie,
who's the tournament director at Wimbledon.
I kind of approached him, basically asking
if we could have an exhibition match at Wimbledon.
Unsurprisingly, it's a no.
"At Wimbledon, we have a long-standing policy and principle
that only 'competition' matches are played
on the match courts during the two weeks of the championships.
There are many reasons for this..." blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
"We would be really interested to meet with you directly
and understand more firsthand about what you're doing."
It's very rare that I have the need to iron anything,
but I kind of figure...
if you're going to Wimbledon,
you should at least dress like a grown-up.
I don't think I need to punch in the Wimbledon postcode
cos everyone knows it's SW11.
No, SW17. Which one is it?
(LAUGHS)
'Wimbledon. It's the holy grail.
It's the grass courts. It's the tradition.
It's the name, "Wimbledon".
That would be like walking on hallowed turf.
But the All England Tennis Club are apparently a law unto themselves.
One of the wheelchair players said, "All the governing bodies are great,
but you're going to have to make some noise yourself."
Wheelchair tennis is brilliant, and I love that Wimbledon have got
wheelchair tennis players there.
But it feels like the rest of us are on the sidelines.
We never thought this thing was possible.'
So you don't even dream about it.
You don't even think about going to Wimbledon because it's just...
it's never going to happen, because of your disability.
And now to realise...
it's never going to happen because of the type
of disability that you've got...
So now I'm starting to feel a sense of injustice.
'I kind of feel, like, a big responsibility...
..for para-standing tennis, cos a lot rides on this meeting.'
Which is hard because, as an Australian and as a comedian,
I'm not very good with people in positions of authority.
I kind of want to take the mickey out of them.
You know, I guess my worry is they're kind of...
..almost going to see me as being foolish.
'Jamie, the tournament director,
kept emphasising the tradition of Wimbledon.'
I think the line was,
"We've been doing things this way for 147 years,
it's very hard to change them."
No promises were made.
They're going to go away and think about what can be done.
Thank you so much for being here
at this first para-standing tennis world championship,
sanctioned by ITF.
70 people with disabilities, and all disabilities,
arms missing, legs missing, cerebral palsy,
short-statured, everything.
Cos you've gotta know this,
we never see that many disabled people together in a room.
It's freaky for us.
A part of me was walking through going, "Oh, my God,
what a beautiful celebration of humanity," another part was like,
"It looks like the cantina scene from Star Wars."
(LAUGHTER)
World Championships, fresh start.
Let's be honest, that's what I was aiming for all along.
First match is against Kemit.
There's nerves, but I'm so glad it's you
because I'm not as nervous. OK.
And by that I mean... It's fun tennis.
Yeah, yeah.
If the stars align, anyone can be taken out.
(LAUGHS)
Yup.
Great point. I got a point!
No!
Oh, come on.
No!
(APPLAUSE)
Just so glad to win a singles match.
After the Europeans, I didn't wanna go out in the first round.
I'm just glad I won a game.
I'm going to support his dream to be world champion.
So we already talked, that he needs to win the tournament
now that he has taken me out.
'I'm now in the second round.
I'm playing Nicky Maxwell.
So it's a little bit more tense today.'
Good luck to you.
Second round, I had to play... I reckon he was 26.
He was half my age,
and you know you're old
when you're playing tennis against someone, his mum's there,
and she's younger than you.
(LAUGHTER)
Out. 'I lost the first set.'
I was going for winners and they weren't coming off.
MAN: Oh! (LAUGHTER)
I said to myself, "Hit it solidly,
and put the pressure on him."
Oh, beautiful. Great shot. Wow.
Oh, my God, mate.
I'll be honest, it paid off.
That was amazing. Good job.
(LAUGHTER)
'I feel like I deserve to be here.'
The culmination of 12 months of training...
COACH: Remember everything we talked about.
..getting as fit as possible,
focussing on tennis above everything else...
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
..all came down to this match.
Hiya, how are you? WOMAN:
Pumped.
Ivan.
It's gonna be a good match. Yeah.
'Ivan Corretja, president of the Para-Standing Tennis Association.
He won the Europeans.
This was a proper test.'
Let's do it. I'll serve.
'Either I go out and my tournament's over...
..or he does.'
MAN: Aw, bad luck.
(APPLAUSE)
Yeah.
'It was bittersweet. It was bittersweet.
Made it to the top eight. Quarter finals.
Played the world number one.
I got a game off him.'
It was a good run, I'm happy for it to...
..I'm not sad about the way it ended,
I'm proud of the way it ended.
Do you want a shower?
Yes. yes. You were my biggest fan but I'll take it.
Ahh.
Ah, I should have had that during the points.
'My dad was the first person to teach me how to play tennis,
and my kids were here watching me.'
I'm happiest that they saw me,
you know, play with a smile on my face.
'Cos that's what it's about, isn't it?'
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
This tournament last year, we had how many players? 30?
So we are more than twice as big this year,
the number of countries has grown.
The number of female players is higher.
The number of disabilities is higher.
All of the diversity that we need in the sport,
also, it's early days.
And we are learning about this process as we go.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: From Brazil, Thalita Rodrigues.
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT)
I found out about para-standing tennis about a year ago.
It feels like this is the time that it's about to take-off.
Thank you all...
The more people see others do,
the more they're going to be empowered to step on a court.
The British Paralympic Association,
they told us what we need to become a Paralympic sport.
We need quality, and I think we agree we've got that.
We've got great quality of players. (APPLAUSE)
ALEX: I feel could help younger kids
and the next generation of people missing a limb,
or even able-bodied people realise
that there's no boundaries, you know, you can do anything.
We need universality, which means loads of countries playing it,
and I think we've got that.
(CHEERING)
We are disabled, we've been in groups with others that aren't,
and we've always had to explain stuff, and here we don't,
we just come in and focus on tennis,
and that's the beauty of para-standing tennis.
'Normally, when someone meets a disabled person, they're like,
"Oh, what happened to your foot? When did you lose it? How?"
And then they get to know you.' 'Yeah.'
'This week has been the opposite.' 'Yeah.'
'It's like, "Oh, you hit a mean forehand. That's amazing,
when did you start playing tennis?"'
(THEY LAUGH)
'We've all got that feeling.'
None of us are...
..none of us are different anymore.
The final thing we need is quantity, number of players.
Wheelchair tennis has maybe 2,000 players in the world.
So that's where we need to be.
Wimbledon... are difficult,
but Wimbledon know about para-standing tennis.
The more we talk about it, that's how we get bigger and bigger.
(APPLAUSE)
ALEX:
G'day. JAMIE: How you doing? Welcome back.
So, we met a few months ago and talked about para-standing tennis,
and you didn't wanna commit to anything straightaway,
which I totally understand. Being honest,
if we hadn't had that conversation, this wouldn't have happened.
As a kid, you were a tennis player, you wanted to play tennis,
you had a disability,
your only option was to be in a wheelchair.
That was a light bulb moment in that meeting for me.
ALEX:
You, partner. Oh, yeah.
Oh! (LAUGHTER)
Not deep enough. Fudge.
I think, in the last 12 months, to see it being introduced to
Play Your Way To Wimbledon, the International Tennis Federation
now looking at incorporating it worldwide...
it feels like an idea has become a movement.
It's been a hell of a journey.
Wow.
Should we mark it with a selfie, then?Yeah.
Now what? That's it.
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