For the first time in his career, Alex de Minaur has earned himself a place in the fourth round at Wimbledon. On Monday, the Australian will face Cristian Garin in a bid to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the second time in his career, having also reached that stage at the 2020 US Open. Before the match, Adolfo Gutierrez, De Minaur’s lifelong coach, spoke to ATPTour.com about his student’s current form, his year so far, and the secret to their long, successful relationship.

“Being in the last 16 at a Grand Slam is always significant for a player’s confidence, seeing that the hard work and dedication brings rewards,” explained Gutierrez in London. “Ultimately, all tournaments are important, but the majors are special, and we always want to do as well as possible in these weeks because of what it means to the players.

“This year we started very well, and we’ve had some continuity with good results that we hope to continue having during the second half of the season. We have a good chance to pick up points, as we didn’t have a good second half of the year in 2021.”

After a lifetime together, player and coach maintain a healthy and successful relationship that continues to bear fruit, as they have demonstrated this week at Wimbledon. The key is very simple.

“A lot of people ask us that, but ultimately, any relationship is simple if you maintain respect, good communication and honesty,” said Gutierrez. “I have no secrets of any kind with Alex and that helps maintain peace of mind within the team. It’s the same with Emilio, our trusted physio and fitness coach, as well as with Jose Antonio, the psychologist. We’re all kind of from the same mould and they have always respected the way I work with Alex, and they fit in well. That helps keep us united and working in the best conditions possible.”

However, after so much time together, Gutierrez continues to discover things about De Minaur that surprise him, despite sharing so many hours of the day together.

“I always thought that he couldn’t surprise me much after so much time, knowing him so well, but above all he continues to surprise me with his ability to turn a match around when it suddenly gets tough,” he said. “It’s as if he were a different player and he changes everything as if it were no big deal, as if it were normal, which I think is very difficult.”

“From my point of view, consistency and mentality are where he has improved the most,” said Gutierrez. “We’re still working to improve everything; technique, fitness and mentality, to make Alex an increasingly complete player.”

De Minaur does not appear to have reached his peak on the ATP Tour yet, despite having a career-high ranking of No. 15 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“I honestly don’t think so”, said Gutierrez. “I am confident, and I think that we’re growing at our own pace. I don’t think there are limits. With the work rate and the progress he’s showing, both physically and mentally, we’re en route to continue climbing and being more competitive every day.

“From my humble point of view, and I think I still have a lot to learn in this world, I continue to think he can improve everything; shots, tactics, fitness… but the big change I see is in his mentality. How to cope with the big moments and be prepared when you have to dig the deepest.”

– This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es

Wimbledon debutant Tim van Rijthoven has been the breakout star of the ATP Tour’s grass-court season behind victories in his first eight tour-level matches on the surface. While his Cinderella run ended in the fourth round at The Championships courtesy of Novak Djokovic, the Dutchman leaves SW19 grateful for the experience.

“Obviously a very big match for me, playing for the first time on Centre Court against one of the greatest players of all time,” he said in his post-match press conference following a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat. “[It] was for me already a big win, the fact that I was on Centre Court. Really the first couple games I felt that, was a little nervous.”

The 25-year-old put a scare into the three-time defending champion, taking a hard-fought second set by saving four break points to serve it out after six deuces. But Djokovic snapped back with an immediate response, locking down from the baseline to recover.

“I grew in the match, started to play better,” van Rijthoven continued. “Actually got the second set. Then Novak did his Novak thing and played very, very well. He had all the answers. I tried to make it more of a fight, but just wasn’t possible today.”

Van Rijthoven was just 1-2 at tour-level entering June, when he shocked Daniil Medvedev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Taylor Fritz to win the ‘s-Hertogenbosch title in his second ATP Tour main-draw appearance. After notching five wins to lift his maiden tour-level title in his home nation, the Dutchman scored three more wins at Wimbledon, including upsets of 15th seed Reilly Opelka and 22nd seed Nikoloz Basilashvili.

While he could not get past Djokovic, he left the top seed impressed with his game.

“I knew coming into the match that it was always going to be a tough, challenging matchup against Tim, who I’ve never faced before,” the Serbian said. “I watched him play. He’s got a really good game for grass, which he proved today. [It] was a very good fight, especially in the first two sets.”

Van Rijthoven entered SW19 at a career-high of No.104 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Without the benefit of Grand Slam fourth-round points for his run on the London lawns, he will remain near that position as he looks to establish himself on the ATP Tour in the coming months. 

Instead, he will hope to use his experience on the grass-court swing to propel him to future success.

Despite losing to Jannik Sinner in the fourth round on Sunday, Carlos Alcaraz believes that the grass-court experience he has gained at Wimbledon will greatly benefit him in the future.

The 19-year-old Spaniard, who was making just his second appearance at The Championships, downed Lan-Lennard Struff, Tallon Griekspoor and Oscar Otte as he brought his all-court game to the lawns in London.

“I felt really good here at Wimbledon playing on grass,” Alcaraz said in his post-match press conference. “I got a lot of experience playing on grass. Now I’m thinking that I could be a great player on grass. Next year I hope to play some tournaments before Wimbledon to adapt my game to get more used to playing here. But I would say I’m going to be a great player here on grass.”

Alcaraz’s clash against Sinner on Centre Court pitted two of the brightest talents on the ATP Tour against each other. In a heavy-hitting clash, it was the 19-year-old Italian who advanced in the youngest match (in terms of combined age) at Wimbledon in the fourth round or later since 17-year-old Boris Becker defeated 21-year-old Henri Leconte in the quarter-finals in 1985.

Alcaraz is excited by the prospect of a long-running rivalry with Sinner, with the former Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champions now locked at 1-1 in their ATP Head2Head series.

“I hope so,” Alcaraz said when asked about a rivalry with Sinner. “I’m going to try to be one of the best tennis players in the world for many years. Obviously Jannik is one of the best tennis players in the world as well. For sure he’s going to be in the top for many years.

“I hope to have a good rivalry with him. We hope to fight for the best tournaments in the world and the best moments in the world together.”

Alcaraz has enjoyed a standout 2022. The 19-year-old has captured a joint Tour-leading four titles, including two ATP Masters 1000 crowns, while in April he became the youngest player to crack the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings since Rafael Nadal in 2005.

However, the Spaniard admitted he struggled to find his best level when needed against Sinner, with his nerves playing a part in a disappointing afternoon.

“[At the] start [I] was really nervous. Playing on Centre Court is not easy for me,” said Alcaraz, who is 35-5 on the season. “Jannik handled it better than me, the nerves and the pressure. I was trying to get better, trying to think [about] what was happening… I was struggling a lot with my serve and couldn’t return well.

“After the third set I had chances to break to be up in the fourth, but I couldn’t take the chances. I think the second break point he had, he broke me. It was tough to come back in the fourth being a break down. I couldn’t take the chances. That’s tough.”