Australia’s Dylan Alcott claimed his second Paralympic gold medal in the space of 24 hours after beating Great Britain’s Andy Lapthorne in the wheelchair tennis quad singles final ©Wheelchair Tennis/Twitter

Australia’s Dylan Alcott claimed his second Paralympic gold medal in the space of 24 hours after beating Great Britain’s Andy Lapthorne in the wheelchair tennis quad singles final to add the doubles title he won yesterday alongside Heath Davidson.

In a thoroughly entertaining encounter, Alcott battled to a straight-sets 6-3, 6-4 victory in an hour and 34 minutes on centre court at the Olympic Tennis Centre.

The 25-year-old now has a total of three Paralympic gold medals to his name having helped Australia’s men’s wheelchair basketball team win top honours at the Beijing 2008 Games.  

"To reach the pinnacle of two Paralympic sports and win gold in both sports, if you told me that when I was a little kid when I was having a tough time about my insecurities about my chair, I would've said 'no way mate'," said Alcott.

"It’s a massive feeling of relief because I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but also so proud of my team and friends and family and everyone that has supported me."

Lapthorne could be forgiven for being tired having played in the longest match in wheelchair tennis history yesterday.

He and fellow Briton Jamie Burdekin beat Israel’s Itai Erenlib and Shraga Weinberg 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 after a gruelling four hours and 25 minutes to take the quad doubles bronze medal.  

Great Britain's Andy Lapthorne had to settle for the quad singles silver medal ©Wheelchair Tennis/Twitter
Great Britain's Andy Lapthorne had to settle for the quad singles silver medal ©Wheelchair Tennis/Twitter

It was only 14 hours before that Lapthorne had come off centre court following his quad singles semi-final win over the United States' David Wagner.

"I knew going out there today that I was going to have to grind," said Lapthorne.

"I was going to have to rally and try my best to get into the game.

"The guy is the best in the world and a brilliant tennis player and he came out and proved why tonight.

"One thing is for sure, our division is going places and the more people who see our division the more people will respect our division, and believe you me this is just the start."

In the bronze medal match, Wagner produced a stunning final-set comeback to seal a 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory over South Africa’s Lucas Sithole.

The American, who along with compatriot Nick Taylor suffered defeat to Alcott and Davidson in the quad doubles final, came from 5-1 down to take the decider and secure his eighth Paralympic medal.

"It’s a great feeling to come out with a win after a really long hard week," said Wagner. 

"It feels good to end on a high note."