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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.

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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