Sydney, Jun 19 (IANS): Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are supporting the push to include wheelchair tennis in the upcoming US Open, according to Australian nine-time Grand Slam singles title winner Dylan Alcott.
"I actually spoke to Andy Murray on the phone for 30 minutes last night, he's publicly this morning backed us wheelchair tennis players online, which is awesome," he told The Today Show on Australian broadcaster Channel 9.
"I know a lot of the top players, the likes of Federer and Novak are reaching out internally to try and help because they love wheelchair tennis as well. I know the public does, too. I just want to get that decision-making back in our hands."
Alcott had on Thursday slammed the US Open organisers on Twitter for excluding wheelchair tennis players from this year's schedule. The US Open is set to be held as per its original schedule from August 31 to September 13 with restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
While there are no deductions in participation in the singles main-draw events, there will be no qualification tournaments and the men's and women's doubles are restricted to 32 teams each as opposed to the usual 64. Mixed doubles, junior tournaments and wheelchair tennis are omitted.