De Minaur Eager To Build On Soaring Success

Alex De Minaur would be “honoured” to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals but is fully focused on rising up the Emirates ATP Rankings with further success on the ATP Challenger Tour.

The 17 year old has shot to prominence with eye-catching performances in his native Australia at the start of 2017. Already at World No. 248, De Minaur clinched another memorable victory at the $75,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Launceston, where he toppled top seed Go Soeda in the opening round. Edging towards the world’s Top 200 and sitting well placed at No. 11 in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, De Minaur is poised for an exciting 2017.

“It would be a great honour (to qualify for Milan). I haven’t really thought about it, but I’m just going to take it tournament by tournament and if I qualify then I’ll be really proud of myself,” said the Australian teenager.

De Minaur credits his endeavours in pre-season alongside mentor and former World No.1 Lleyton Hewitt for producing his exceptional start to the year.

“I spent my off-season in Australia training with Lleyton and just worked on being very solid, working on my fitness too, so I’m able to withstand the heat and the long matches too,” added the Alicante, Spain, resident. “He’s (Hewitt) been helping me with a lot of advice on court and off court, how to deal with pressure situations and different opponents. I’m just really glad and grateful that he’s been able to help me.”

To ignite his 2017 campaign, De Minaur navigated past Frances Tiafoe and Mikhail Kukushkin to qualify for the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, before defeating World No.46 Benoit Paire at the Apia International for a maiden ATP World Tour main draw victory. He then built on those wins to secure a maiden Grand Slam victory in the Australian Open, with a five-sets triumph over Gerald Melzer. De Minaur was surprised with his instant success Down Under.

“They gave me a lot of confidence. I wasn’t expecting to win these matches but I’m really happy that all the work I put in the off-season has helped me through these tournaments,” said De Minaur.

He’s clearly channelling the on-court presence of mentor Hewitt and has picked up a rather apt nickname ‘Demon’.

“I got the nickname a couple of years ago here in Australia. It’s similar to my surname and I think it shows the demeanour I’ve got on court, fighting for every ball and never giving up.”