The year 2024 has barely begun and Alex de Minaur has already achieved what few players in the history of tennis can boast of: beating Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, world numbers 1 and 2, in less than a week . A feat to put into perspective. The Serbian was hampered by wrist discomfort and the confrontation with the Spaniard was a simple exhibition. It remains that the Australian asserts himself as the strong man at the start of the season. To the point of appearing as one of the main outsiders of the next Australian Open (January 14-28), with the hopes of an entire country on his frail shoulders.
“Let’s not move too quickly,” tempered the person concerned after his recent victory against Djokovic, his head still full of the painful memory of the humiliation suffered by this same Djokovic in the round of 16 of the Australian Grand Slam last year. last. The unfortunate man was only able to score five short games (6-2, 6-1, 6-2) and was “ashamed” in front of the audience at the Rod Laver Arena. Another era. “I am happy with my level, my mental strength and my state of mind. I’m playing very well at the moment and I would like to show this level of play in Melbourne.
In the wake of his excellent performances during the United Cup, a mixed team competition played at the beginning of January, De Minaur became the first “Aussie” to reach the top 10 of the ATP rankings since a certain… Lleyton Hewitt. The comparison with this illustrious mentor stops at nationality and small size. Hewitt was a precocious genius, long holder of the record for youngest world number one, winner of two Grand Slams before he turned 21. De Minaur takes his time. He builds, patiently but surely, beating the odds through hard work and humility. “He deserves all the success he gets,” his compatriot Nick Kyrgios recently wrote on X.
De Minaur doesn’t have the raw talent of Kyrgios but he is arguably more consistent. He will last where the Canberra troublemaker, who is sliding slowly but surely towards a career as a consultant at only 28 years old, will have provided only fleeting thrills. And Alex de Minaur to assert himself as the new leader of the 1999 generation, long led by the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, a left-hander who is as talented as he is inconsistent. Less brilliant, less aesthetic, the Australian is more of the hardworking, hard-working type. Teigneux. Nicknamed “Demon” by his Davis Cup teammates for his willingness to fight on all points, he covers the four corners of the court like a puncture-proof moped. “The fastest player on the circuit,” Rafael Nadal said about him.
Enough to reach the top 10 then, but can Alex de Minaur aim higher? His best performances in tournaments that matter are a quarterfinal at the US Open in 2020 and a final at the Toronto Masters 1000 in 2023. That’s it. Some opponents – Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev – are not successful at all. Brilliant moments are rare. But nothing to shake his confidence. “Since the start of my career, I have been told repeatedly that I was not big enough, not strong enough, not powerful enough, that I will never be a great player,” he explained recently at a press conference. It gives me more energy, I’m ready to do anything to prove people wrong.”
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In the meantime, Australia can be proud of its national number 1. A true team player, a loyal one. Born in Sydney to a Spanish mother and Uruguayan father, Alex de Minaur grew up mostly in Spain but still chose to represent the Australian national team. On his chest he had the number 109 tattooed because he became the 109th player selected for the Davis Cup team. It was in 2018. That year, he took part in the Next Gen ATP Finals, the Masters of the hopefuls. Of the eight participants, he is the last to have joined the ATP top 10. But it is not excluded that he will be the last to leave it.
