Alex de Minaur


Alex de Minaur is an Australian tennis player with dual Australian and Spanish citizenship. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of 18 in October 2019.

Early life and junior career

De Minaur was born in Sydney, Australia. His father, Anibal, is Uruguayan and his mother, Esther, is a Spaniard. His father owned an Italian restaurant on George Street in Sydney and met Esther when she began working there as a waitress. De Minaur has two brothers and three sisters — Dominic, Daniel, Natalie, Cristina, and Sara.
His name is commonly pronounced, inspiring both his nickname of the Demon and his logo used when signing the camera lens after winning matches.
De Minaur has dual Australian and Spanish citizenship. He spent the first five years of his life in the south Sydney suburb of Carss Park before relocating to Alicante, Spain. He completed most of his early education in Spain before returning to Australia at age 13. As of 2015, de Minaur was living in Spain. De Minaur has stated that he has always felt a strong bond with Australia even though he has lived most of his life in Spain. In 2017, he told the Sydney Morning Herald "I used to represent Spain but I always felt I was Australian. As soon as we moved back here again that was the first thing I wanted to do — play for Australia."
De Minaur is fluent in English and Spanish and also speaks some French.
De Minaur began playing tennis at age three at the Sydney Private Tennis Academy at the Parkside Tennis Courts in Kogarah Bay. He was coached by Kerry Dock and then by Cindy Dock. He has been coached by Adolfo Gutierrez since he was nine years old and living in Alicante. De Minaur reached a career-high ranking of 2 on the juniors circuit and won the 2016 Australian Open boys' doubles title alongside Blake Ellis.

Professional career

2015–2017: Early Futures & Challenger success, turning pro

De Minaur plays tennis under the flag of Australia. He made his professional debut in July 2015 at the Spain F22, reaching the quarterfinals. He was given a wildcard into the qualifying rounds of the 2016 Australian Open, but lost in round one. De Minaur then spent the majority of the 2016 season playing on the ITF circuit in Spain, reaching two finals. He made his first ATP Challenger Tour final in Eckental, Germany after qualifying.
De Minaur commenced the year at the Brisbane International, where he defeated Mikhail Kukushkin and Frances Tiafoe in qualifying to reach his first ATP main draw. He lost in the first round to Mischa Zverev. The following week, he received a wildcard into the Apia International Sydney where he defeated world number 46 Benoît Paire to claim his first Tour-level win. De Minaur made his Grand Slam debut at the 2017 Australian Open after receiving a wildcard. He faced Gerald Melzer in the first round and won in five sets after saving a match point in the fourth set. He lost to Sam Querrey in round two.
In May, de Minaur made his French Open debut after being awarded a wildcard. He lost the opening round to Robin Haase in straight sets. In June, de Minaur lost in the first round of Nottingham and Ilkley Challengers and the second round of Wimbledon qualifying. De Minaur was awarded a wildcard into the 2017 US Open, losing in round one to Dominic Thiem.
In December, de Minaur won the Australian Open play off for a main draw wildcard into the 2018 Australian Open. He finished the year with a singles ranking of 208.

2018: Breakthrough, Challenger title, two ATP finals, NextGen ATP Finals runner-up

De Minaur commenced the year at the Brisbane International after receiving a wildcard into the main draw. He defeated American Steve Johnson in straight sets before scoring a career high win against world number 24 Milos Raonic in straight sets. He then defeated qualifier Michael Mmoh in the quarterfinals before losing to Ryan Harrison in the semifinals. De Minaur is the lowest ranked player and the youngest to reach the semifinals of the men's draw in the Brisbane International's 10-year history.
De Minaur received a special exempt spot in the main draw of the Sydney event, where he consecutively eliminated Fernando Verdasco, Damir Džumhur and Feliciano López to reach his second ATP Tour semifinal; he reached this milestone just one week after having played in his first tour semifinal in Brisbane. De Minaur became the youngest player to play in two consecutive ATP semifinals since Rafael Nadal in 2005. He beat Frenchman Benoît Paire in the semifinals to meet Daniil Medvedev in the final. De Minaur lost the final in three sets, having won the opener. At the 2018 Australian Open, de Minaur lost in the first round to Tomáš Berdych, but took a set off of the 19th seed.
He was awarded a wildcard into the 2018 French Open, but lost in the first round to British 16th seed Kyle Edmund. Following this, he made two consecutive Challenger finals, losing to Jérémy Chardy at Surbiton, before defeating Dan Evans in straight sets to claim his first Challenger-level title at the Nottingham Open. He saw his best results to date at a major at Wimbledon, defeating 29th seed and French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato and Pierre-Hugues Herbert to reach the third round, where he fell to world number one and second seed Rafael Nadal.
In Washington, de Minaur defeated Vasek Pospisil, 11th seed Steve Johnson, 8th seed and Australian Open semifinalist Chung Hyeon and received a walkover over Andy Murray to reach the semifinals where he faced Andrey Rublev. De Minaur saved four match points while down 2–6 in the second set tiebreak, winning six points in a row to win it 8–6. He then won the final set 6–4 to reach his first ATP 500 final against Alexander Zverev, in which he went down 4–6, 2–6. De Minaur entered the top 50 in the rankings for the first time.
At the US Open, de Minaur defeated Taro Daniel and Frances Tiafoe before losing to 7th seed Marin Čilić in 5 sets. Later in the year, he replaced Nick Kyrgios as Australia's highest ranked male singles player.

2019: Three ATP titles, second NextGen ATP Finals final

De Minaur began his year with a quarterfinal run in Brisbane, resulting in him being seeded for a Grand Slam for the first time in his career at the upcoming Australian Open. At the 2019 Sydney International, straight set victories over Dušan Lajović, Reilly Opelka, Jordan Thompson and Gilles Simon saw him return to the finals. He defeated Andreas Seppi 7–5, 7–6 to claim his first career title. At the Australian Open, he lost in the third round to Rafael Nadal. De Minaur reached a career-high ranking of 24 in March 2019.
Following the Australian Open, de Minaur suffered a groin injury, sidelining him for two months. At Wimbledon, De Minaur won his opening round before losing to Steve Johnson in the second round in five sets. De Minaur made his fourth ATP Final in Atlanta, where he defeated Taylor Fritz to clinch the trophy. He did not face a single break point in the four matches he played during the tournament, winning 116 of 123 first serve points.
At the US Open, de Minaur defeated Kei Nishikori in third round, earning his first career win over a top 10-ranked opponent. He reached the fourth round for the first time in the event, however, lost to Grigor Dimitrov 7–5, 6–3, 6–4.
In September, de Minaur claimed his 3rd ATP title beating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 76-64 in the final of the Zhuhai Championships.
At the Swiss Indoors, de Minaur reached the final of an ATP 500 event for the second time in his career, losing to Roger Federer. As a result, de Minaur reached a career-high ranking of 18.
De Minaur qualified as the first seed into the 2019 Next Generation ATP Finals. He beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Miomir Kecmanović, Casper Ruud in group stage. He then beat Frances Tiafoe in the semis before losing to Italian wildcard Jannik Sinner.

Playing style

De Minaur is famous for his speed and agility on court, which have earned him the jocular title "Speed Demon" on the tour. He is known for his ability to retrieve seemingly impossible balls and hit winners from defensive positions, or force opponents into making mistakes. His footwork and court coverage are considered some of the best on tour, though some have questioned the physical toll it could take on his body in the long-term. Despite this, his fighting spirit, "never say die" attitude and intensity on court have earned him a huge fan base for a young player.
His baseline game suits that of a counterpuncher, often retrieving balls and slowly constructing points. However, he is also known to inject sudden pace into rallies to surprise opponents, and often opts for a one-two combination on his serve, using the serve and a powerful groundstroke to end points quickly. His forehand is significantly better than his backhand on the offensive, and he often uses it to construct points or hit winners when attacking.
De Minaur possesses a strong first serve, but his second serve is considerably weaker and usually an attacking point for opponents. His volleys were initially a weakness too, but have improved since 2019, moving towards a more transitional offensive game.
Critics point out that despite his defensive capabilities, de Minaur does not possess any real weapons to hurt top opponents. Some have argued his defensive game is unsustainable physically in the long-term and is not sufficient to challenge the best players in the world as he tends to play himself out of aggressive positions. Instead, he should focus on developing his groundstrokes towards more consistent aggression to end points quickly.

National representation

ATP Cup

De Minaur made his ATP Cup debut for Australia in January 2020, at the age of 20. He scored a victory against then world number 7 Alexander Zverev which helped Australia claimed a 3-0 victory over Germany.

Davis Cup

He made his Davis Cup debut for Australia in February 2018, at the age of 18. He faced then world number 5 Alexander Zverev from Germany in the opening rubber and fell just short of a spectacular upset, losing in a fifth-set tiebreaker after leading 3–0, in the decider.

Olympics

De Minaur has expressed his desire to represent Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

ATP career finals

Singles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–12018 Sydney International – Men's Singles|Sydney International, Australia250 SeriesHard Daniil Medvedev6–1, 4–6, 5–7
Loss0–22018 Citi Open – Men's Singles|Washington Open, United States500 SeriesHard Alexander Zverev2–6, 4–6
Win1–2Jan 2019Sydney International, Australia250 SeriesHard Andreas Seppi7–5, 7–6
Win2–22019 BB&T Atlanta Open – Singles|Atlanta Open, United States250 SeriesHard Taylor Fritz6–3, 7–6
Win3–22019 Zhuhai Championships – Singles|Zhuhai Championships, China250 SeriesHard Adrian Mannarino7–6, 6–4
Loss3–32019 Swiss Indoors – Singles|Swiss Indoors, Switzerland500 SeriesHard Roger Federer2–6, 2–6

ATP Next Generation finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

ResultDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
LossNov 2018Next Generation ATP Finals, ItalyHard Stefanos Tsitsipas4–2, 1–4, 3–4, 3–4
LossNov 2019Next Generation ATP Finals, ItalyHard Jannik Sinner2–4, 1–4, 2–4

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 8 (2–6)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Murcia F4, SpainFuturesClay Steven Diez3–6, 4–6
Loss0–2Vic F14, SpainFuturesClay Jaume Munar6–7, 5–7
Loss0–32016 Bauer Watertechnology Cup – Singles|Bauer Watertechnology Cup, GermanyChallengerCarpet Steve Darcis4–6, 2–6
Win1–3Póvoa de Varzim F11, PortugalFuturesHard Frederico Ferreira Silva6–1, 2–6, 6–2
Loss1–42017 Open Castilla y León – Men's Singles|Open Castilla y León, SpainChallengerHard Jaume Munar3–6, 4–6
Loss1–52018 JC Ferrero Challenger Open – Singles|JC Ferrero Challenger Open, SpainChallengerClay Pablo Andújar6–7, 1–6
Loss1–62018 Fuzion 100 Surbiton Trophy – Men's Singles|Surbiton Trophy, United KingdomChallengerGrass Jérémy Chardy4–6, 6–4, 2–6
Win2–62018 Nottingham Open – Men's Singles|Nottingham Open, United KingdomChallengerGrass Dan Evans7–6, 7–5

Doubles: 3 (2–1)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Madrid F8, SpainFuturesHard Carlos Boluda-Purkiss Carlos Gómez-Herrera
Akira Santillan		6–4, 6–4
Loss1–1Saint-Dizier F12, SpainFuturesClay Carlos Boluda-Purkiss Ramkumar Ramanathan
David Vega Hernández		3–6, 1–6
Win2–1Póvoa de Varzim F11, PortugalFuturesHard Roberto Ortega Olmedo Edward Bourchier
Daniel Nolan		6–2, 6–1

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Performance timeline

Singles

Current through the 2020 Australian Open.

Top 10 wins

Season201520162017201820192020Total
Wins0000314