Tennis star Dylan Alcott’s partner opens up on their romantic love story

With Dylan Alcott closing in on tennis history this week, his girlfriend has revealed the romantic love story behind their relationship.

Dylan Alcott's love story is one for the ages.

Dylan Alcott has enjoyed a sensational sporting career, but his love story is just as extraordinary.

The Aussie tennis superstar is currently in New York, where he is seeking to win the US Open and achieve the coveted “Golden Slam”.

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Alcott’s campaign is off to a good start, after he dominated his opening match 6-0 6-1 against Bryan Barten and is now just two matches away from winning the tournament and creating history.

If Alcott wins his 15th grand slam title, he will become just the second tennis player to ever win all four grand slams and an Olympic/Paralympic gold medal in the same calendar year.

Only German superstar Steffi Graf has achieved the incredible feat, after she won all four majors and claimed gold at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

Last week Alcott won the gold medal in the quad wheelchair singles at the Tokyo Paralympics, defending his title from five years ago in Rio.

Dylan Alcott is looking to make history at the US Open. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

The 30-year-old is also a former wheelchair basketball star where he claimed a gold in Beijing and silver in London before switching to tennis.

But who is Alcott away from the tennis court?

He has built up a large following as a disability advocate, motivational speaker and author.

As for his love life, Alcott has been dating sexologist Chantelle Otten for over two years.

Otten recently opened up on their relationship, which has been a whirlwind romance.

“I met Dylan at his book signing, and I had no idea who he was,” Otten told Mamamia’s No Filter podcast.

“I was with my friend just over two years ago. And that night I was dealing with PMS, my hair was slicked back, I was wearing an old t-shirt and sneakers. I think it was just, you know, one of those days where you’re just like, I am mopey as. And I was so looking forward to going to dinner, but we had to go to this book signing.”

But after seeing Alcott in the flesh, it was very much a case of love at first sight.

“I looked across the room, and I saw him and I just went: ‘Ah, that’s my person’. That’s the person I’m going to be with for the rest of my life,” Otten said.

“I really felt this wave come over my body. And he was just so beautiful to look at and the way that he spoke. And I think that I just recognised that what he was doing was so similar to what I was doing. I really felt like I had met my match at that point.

“This was a kind of connection that I knew would work out. But I was just very silent at the back of the room. I didn’t speak. I didn’t ask a question.

“I just stared at him. In a creepy way.

“I put up on my Instagram a post about the talks and about sex and disability. And then he sent me a message and said, ‘I saw you down the back of the room. Where did you go?’ And I was like, ‘I’m shy’, and so he said, ‘Oh, come talk to me next time’. Which was when I said, ‘Well, why don’t we go get a drink?’

“He was talking about disability and the way that he is really changing the conversation around it. He spoke about sex in that conversation. He spoke about kicking goals.”

The inspirational star has dominated 2021. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

After their first date, Otten went to the Netherlands to visit her family, delaying her romance with Alcott.

But when she returned to Australian a couple of months later, the pair didn’t waste any time, quickly moving in together.

“When I got back from that trip, he’d missed me so much,” Otten said.

“And we weren’t even together. We’d spoken like twice. And I moved into his house a week later.”

“I think we were both pretty nervous to be honest,” Otten said of the first time she and Alcott had sex.

“But we had a lot of practice and it worked out well.”

Otten said she is offended when people tell her she is “brave” for being in a relationship with someone who has a disability.

“I’ve worked with some people with disabilities that have said that when they’re out in public, people think that their partner is their carer — I also know that we have had to deal with that a few times,” she said.

Alcott and Otten’s romance has been whirlwind.

“I’ve definitely had people come up to me and say, ‘You’re such a brave person, or you’re so kind, or you’re a saint’. And I’m like, ‘Are you kidding? He looks after me’.

“We are so protective over each other and respectful.

“And I just think that people coming up and saying that to me while my beautiful boyfriend is sitting next to me in his chair. It just breaks my heart.

“All I want to do is just push them away. But you just have to be respectful and just say, ‘just keep moving’.”

As for their love life in the bedroom, Otten believes it is important to destigmatise the discussion around sex and disability.

“I think that it’s very scary for some people to view those with a disability as an erotic being, because it is too challenging for them to think outside the box,” she said.

“But it’s my job is to think outside the box.”

Alcott and Otten are breaking down stigmas around sex and disability. Photo: Luc Dawson

“I think the best thing that I’ve learned from Dylan is to never assume. Because yes, I’m an expert in my field, but I’ve never really thought that I know everything. I can never know anything that is so personal to someone else. Instead, I see it as my job to figure it out, and to ask a lot of questions. And we deal with them in the exact same way, you know, asking, how does this work? How does that work? And you know, how do we figure this out?”

After winning his gold medal in Tokyo, Alcott revealed it would be his last appearance at the Paralympics, suggesting retirement could be on the cards soon.

So when his tennis career is over, are Alcott and Otten considering having kids in the near future?

“I’m always like, ‘Dylan, we can do it now’ and then I’ll say, ‘No, let’s do it in two years’. Or maybe I’ll freeze my eggs,” Otten said.

“I’m just worried that my sex life will go out the window. Like once I cried thinking about it, saying, ‘I don’t think we’re gonna have sex anymore’. After that Dylan was like, ‘Oh, my God’.”