de Minaur, Alex (1999- )

Subterms

    Latest story

    113 Shares62 Views

    Australian Open: Alex de Minaur’s Love for the Major

    by

    He played a memorable match there as a 17-year-old, when he came from behind and won.For all the milestone moments Alex de Minaur has had over his nearly 10-year pro tennis career, including nine ATP singles titles, there is one victory that stands out.It was the opening round of the 2017 Australian Open in de Minaur’s first main draw at his first major championship in his home country, when the then-17-year-old saved a match point in the fourth set before beating Gerald Melzer in five sets and almost four hours.In the opening round of the 2017 Australian Open, de Minaur, who was then just 17, beat his opponent in five sets and almost four hours. “It’s one of those moments that I had grown up dreaming about,” de Minaur recalled in an interview.Getty“I remember everything about that match,” said de Minaur during a phone interview shortly after he arrived in Sydney, Australia, his hometown, late last month to start his 2025 season playing for Australia in the United Cup. “Making my debut on show court three in front of a packed crowd. It was so hot, but there were so many people supporting me from the very first point to the last. It’s one of those moments that I had grown up dreaming about. To be able to win that last point and the whole release of emotions, of tension, fatigue that had built up through the whole match was a pretty surreal experience.”De Minaur, now 25, has become Australia’s great hope. Last season, in addition to notching wins over Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, he beat Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas, winning titles in Acapulco, Mexico, and the Dutch city of ’s-Hertogenbosch, and reaching a career-high No. 6 in July.But he also suffered excruciating losses, most notably to Rublev in the round of 16 at the Australian Open, the tournament de Minaur said he coveted most.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    More stories

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in Tennis

      Sometimes Tennis Is a Waiting Game. And Waiting and Waiting.

      by

      Games can take a long time, and players waiting to take the court for the next match have to find ways to stay sharp.When Felix Auger-Aliassime won the first two sets of his men’s quarterfinals against Daniil Medvedev at last year’s Australian Open, Gonzalo Escobar started prepping for his mixed doubles semifinals, the next match in Rod Laver Arena. As the third set progressed, Escobar and his partner Lucie Hradecka, along with their opponents Jason Kubler and Jaimee Fourlis, began loosening up.But Medvedev won that set in a tiebreaker, forcing the doubles players to switch gears. They lay down, covering their bodies to stay warm. At first they chatted, then Hradecka listened to music while Escobar talked to his wife before watching the match.With Auger-Aliassime ahead in the fourth set, the doubles players again grew silent and serious, resuming their physical preparations. But again Medvedev prevailed.“It was very tiring,” Escobar said.Again, they lay down. Escobar ate a banana, energy bars and gels to keep his body fueled. The fifth set lasted another hour until Medvedev won. Escobar said that when the doubles players finally entered the court, Medvedev “looked at us and said, ‘Sorry guys.’”In most major sports, the athletes know their start time. Tennis, however, is a guessing game: The previous match may be over in an hour or last for three. And Grand Slams deepen the uncertainty because men play a best-of-five instead of best-of-three format, as they do in other tournaments. Longer matches produce more seesaw battles, forcing waiting players to continually adjust their physical routine and mental preparations.Even a match seemingly near the finish offers no guarantees.“It can be two sets to love with one player up 5-4 and the match could be over in five minutes, or it could last more than two hours,” said Craig Boynton, who coaches Hubert Hurkacz. “You’re estimating and observing, but it’s all guesswork.”Boynton was coaching John Isner in 2010 when Isner beat Nicholas Mahut at Wimbledon in a 70-68 fifth set that stretched across multiple days, eventually forcing officials to shift waiting players to other courts. “I’m happy all the Slams now do fifth-set tiebreakers,” Boynton said, which prevent final sets from going on indefinitely.Alex de Minaur returning a shot against Filip Krajinovic during the first round of men’s singles of the 2022 U.S. Open. That match began after a long period of waiting, during the four-hour five-setter that preceded it.Mike Stobe/Getty ImagesAlex de Minaur, who followed a four-hour five-setter in his first 2022 United States Open match, said afterward that the key was to be “mentally versatile.”“You have to do everything to prepare as if the match before yours will go three sets and then adapt,” he said. “You can’t let it have a negative impact or waste too much energy, although that’s easier said than done.”Many coaches request the first match of the day to avoid this issue, said David Nainkin, who coaches Brandon Holt (the son of Tracy Austin, who won the U.S. Open in 1979 and 1981). “The third match is the toughest slot — you can be on any time from 2 to 6 p.m.”Certain matches offer more predictability, said Peter Polansky, who coaches Denis Shapovalov. If Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal is trailing the 50th-ranked player two sets to one, Polansky would say “let’s wait it out,” but if either superstar is leading by a set it’s more likely time for “high-alert mode” to get ready to play.But repeatedly leaping into high alert can be draining, said Austin, whose 1981 U.S. Open final against Martina Navratilova followed a five-setter between John McEnroe and Vitas Gerulaitis. Austin didn’t want to feel rushed so, anticipating an ending, she taped her feet and got dressed.“I was ready to go and I’d get charged up, but then their match would extend,” she said. When the men finished, Austin felt “a little sapped by the emotional roller coaster” and lost the first set 6-1, but bounced back to win the match.Shifting scenarios give experienced players an edge, Austin said. “It’s a gradual learning process. You develop tools and routines in those situations.” She said one factor was figuring out whether you prefer being around people or in a quiet space alone.Caroline Garcia warming up before a match against Iga Swiatek during the 2022 WTA Finals. Garcia also hit the gym while waiting out a five-setter before one of her matches at the U.S. Open, to “fire myself up a bit.”Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesAfter waiting out a five-setter before her fourth-round match at the U.S. Open, Caroline Garcia noted that she passed part of her limbo reading, before prepping her rackets and then going to the gym to “fire myself up a bit.”Some players meditate or even nap once a match extends, Polansky said, although it’s tricky because a final set can be a quick 6-1 laugher. At the opposite end, many players will gather with their team and play cards or board games.“You don’t want to do anything that will fatigue you mentally,” Polansky said, noting that spending too much time staring at a phone as matches elongate can be detrimental.When a match suddenly goes to a fourth or fifth set, Nainkin said some waiting players change their location, perhaps leaving the locker room for the lounge, “just to reset mentally and get out of ‘ready to go mode’ for 30 minutes.”If the end of the match is exciting, many players watch while getting ready, he said, which also helps them pace their warm-ups. Some players, however, just have their coaches tracking the score. “The coach’s job is to have a read on the match so the player can switch off entirely if the match goes to a fifth set.”Timing your food is also essential, Garcia said. “You don’t want to eat too much, but if it goes to a fifth set you need to have another snack while waiting.”But numerous smaller details must also be factored in. “Some players want their ankles taped right before match time so it’s stiffer, while others want to walk around and break it in,” Boynton said. “Some want to get limber and sweaty and then use the last few minutes to go through the game plan, but others don’t.”In a close fourth set, he added, Hurkacz will get on the treadmill and do sprints then undo his shoelaces and do a few stretches and wait. During a tiebreaker, he’ll lace up again, but if the match goes to a fifth set, the shoes come off and he’ll ask for another round of rice and vegetables.“Everyone has their own process and talking about it sounds crazy, but it’s just normal to us,” Boynton said. “You don’t have to be the best at dealing with it, you just have to be better than your opponent.” More

    • 138 Shares179 Views

      in Tennis

      Future Tennis Stars Get an Early Start at the Junior Championships

      by

      The events often feature future stars, like Stefanos Tsitsipas and Denis Shapovalov. “I couldn’t believe the level of play,” one observer said.At Wimbledon in 2016, Chris Fowler dragged his ESPN broadcasting partner Brad Gilbert to the semifinals of the boys’ Junior Championships. They were treated to a preview of two future stars: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Denis Shapovalov, who won the tournament.“I couldn’t believe the level of play,” Gilbert recalled.That event looked like a snapshot of things to come. Shapovalov defeated Alex de Minaur in the finals; de Minaur beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarters. All three have since broken into the ATP Top 20, while Tsitsipas reached the Top five.Denis Shapovalov defeated Alex de Minaur in the Boy’s Singles Final at Wimbledon in 2016.Adam Pretty/Getty ImagesYet Gilbert was initially unenthused about watching because it easily could have been a replay of the 2014 Junior Wimbledon finals when Noah Rubin beat Stefan Kozlov before both vanished into the lower rungs of the ATP Tour.The ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors is important to the development of many players 18 and under. In 2019, there were over 600 ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors tournaments, with about 8,000 boys and 7,000 girls playing at least one tournament. Its Grand Slam events are held alongside the professional tournaments.At Wimbledon this year, 64 boys and 64 girls will be competing in main draw singles. Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, who won the girls’ singles title at the 2020 Australian Open, is still competing as a junior and will be at Wimbledon, as will the most recent Boys’ French Open champion, Luca van Assche.Winning a Junior Slam is obviously a meaningful triumph, but that does not mean it is a barometer of future success. Roger Federer and Andy Murray won Junior Slams, but Rafael Nadal showed that you can go from boy to man while barely playing in the ITF Juniors. Venus and Serena Williams, along with the recent champions Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka, also skipped playing in the Juniors circuit.Earlier this month, Luca van Assche won the Boys French Open. He, too, is competing in the Juniors at Wimbledon.Christophe Ena/Associated Press“A good junior career is a good start, but never a guarantee,” Stan Wawrinka, winner of the 2003 Junior French Open, wrote in an email interview. “I never even dreamed of winning a Grand Slam until I eventually did at the 2014 Australian Open,” his first of three.Jeff McFarland, creator of the Hidden Game of Tennis website, said that Wawrinka was smart to keep his dreams modest. Winning a Junior Slam is less predictive than being a top pick from college football or basketball.“Tennis has such an unstructured development system, so it’s hard to say what these wins might indicate,” McFarland said, adding that the physicality of the modern game makes it difficult to know how players will evolve when their bodies have yet to fully develop. “They may be the cream of the crop in the Juniors, but at the next level everybody is that good.”The Junior Slams have produced more top women than men in the last 15 years: the Grand Slam winners Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep, Ashleigh Barty, Jelena Ostapenko and Iga Swiatek; the No. 1s Caroline Wozniacki and Karolina Pliskova; and a lengthy list of Top 10 players.The boys’ side peaked from 1998 to 2005, with Federer, Murray, Wawrinka, Andy Roddick, Marin Cilic and the Top 10 players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils. The next eight years produced Dominic Thiem, who won the United States Open last year, but otherwise it was a meager crop, But since 2014, a new generation has emerged: Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Taylor Fritz and those stars of that 2016 Wimbledon tournament.McFarland said a successful pro career needed not include a Grand Slam — especially on the men’s side, where Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Federer, Murray and Wawrinka have won all but four titles since 2004 — or even cracking the Top 10. The Junior Slam winners Leander Paes and Jack Sock foundered on the ATP Tour but won multiple Grand Slams in doubles, while Richard Gasquet, “who the average American fan never heard of, has nearly $20 million in prize money,” McFarland said. “No one would call those careers a failure.”Still, McFarland said that since 1990 only half the male Junior Grand Slam winners even hit the Top 50, while only one-third of Junior Slam finalists reached that high. Girls fare better, with two-thirds of the Junior Slam winners and half of the runners-up breaking into the Top 50. (McFarland said winning multiple Junior Slams, as Azarenka and Roddick have, actually did predict higher pro earnings.)“Honestly, winning a Junior Slam doesn’t give you as much help as you might think,” said Elina Svitolina, the 2010 Junior French Open champion, who had reached No. 3 on the WTA Tour. “That’s only the beginning — you have to work so many hours on and off the court to not have the Junior mentality anymore, because when you start to play the women’s circuit it’s completely different.”Stan Wawrinka beat Brian Baker in 2003 to win the Junior French Open. “A good junior career is a good start, but never a guarantee,” Wawrinka said recently.Christophe Archambault/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesWawrinka said he saw more positives.“The pro tour is a completely different level,” Wawrinka said, “but traveling on the Junior tour helps you get used to the travel routine at a young age — the jet lag, different food and being away from home is not always easy for juniors.”Sofia Kenin, a Junior U.S. Open finalist, said having soaked up “the vibe and atmosphere” at the Grand Slams as a junior helped prepare her mentally when she won last year’s Australian Open and reached the finals of the French Open.One issue that McFarland and Gilbert raise about the Juniors as a predictor is that many top young players opt instead for low-level pro tournaments, either because they want the challenge or for economic reasons.“It’s more of a commitment to build your junior ranking — the international travel can cost as much or more than the pro tour,” Gilbert said. Winning the Australian Junior Open, he said, is less predictive than the other three majors perhaps because it requires more travel for American and European players.The result, McFarland said, is that the winners “may not be facing the best talent.” Indeed, of Svitolina’s six opponents en route to her Junior Slam win, only two later broke into the WTA’s Top 150.Gilbert said that ideally the winners of the Junior Slams should be granted a wild card into the main draw of that Grand Slam the next year.“This would give young players the incentive to play in the Junior Slams and bring more talent back,” he said. More