Stosur: Alex ‘Demon’ de Minaur has the mindset and game plan to make a deep AO run
Sam Stosur believes the stars are aligning for Alex de Minaur to make a deep run into the Australian Open, with hopes that the top 10 seed will smash his fourth round record come January.
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Former US Open champion Sam Stosur is confident Alex de Minaur has the game and mindset to make a deep run at the Australian Open and target a career-best result at his home grand slam.
After a fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open last summer, de Minaur reached the quarter finals of the French Open, Wimbledon – before he had to withdraw through injury – and the US Open in a year in which he broke into the world top 10 for the first time.
De Minaur peaked at a career-high singles ranking of No. 6 in the world in July this year before finishing the year ranked No.9.
The 25-year-old will carry Australian hopes as the nation’s top-ranked player ahead of the season-opening grand slam at Melbourne Park in January.
But Stosur, who won the US Open in 2011, believed de Minaur was well-equipped to handle the pressure.
“I think this year he kind of already went through it. This isn’t going to be a new prospect for him going into 2025,” Stosur said.
“He had that position this year, I think he handled it incredibly well. He started amazing at the United Cup, had a great AO and then throughout the whole year he just consistently made those quarter finals in the grand slams, he has finished No. 9 in the world, so top 10 for the first time.
“I feel like he’s had that (pressure) on his shoulders progressively as the year has gone on anyway. Yes, it might feel a little bit different here in Australia than everywhere else, but you have just got to keep doing what you do.
“He seems to have some really good people around him, he is a pretty level-headed kind of guy, he doesn’t ever seem to get too excited … too crazy.
“He has got a bigger serve now, he is able to play more aggressively, but when he needs to he can still be that scrapper, counter-puncher, make the guy play and he has proved that he can beat some of the best players in the world that are just right ahead of him.
“I am really excited to see what he can do through January and in the following years to come.”
Like new Billie Jean King Cup captain Stosur twice achieved, de Minaur’s best result at the Australian Open has been the fourth round.
De Minaur has made it to the fourth round at Melbourne Park the past three years, but this year’s trio of quarter-final appearances were his best grand slam results.
Stosur was confident he could at least match that at the Open and just needed the belief that he could “push beyond that”.
“Three out of four slams this year he got to (quarter-finals), so he knows he can get to that point,” Stosur said.
“Unfortunately at Wimbledon, he had to pull out and wasn’t able to play and still managed to do it at the US Open where I think he was pretty underdone and not in great physical condition but still managed to get to that point in a tournament, which is remarkable.
“Without putting pressure or anything like that, I would love to see him be able to do that.
“I have no doubt that is his goal and he is a great player so he should feel like he is capable of getting to those spots where his ranking technically kind of says you can and be able to push beyond that, for sure.”
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Originally published as Stosur: Alex ‘Demon’ de Minaur has the mindset and game plan to make a deep AO run
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