Alex de Minaur takes swing at Australian Open officials over schedule
A fighter, relentless and insatiable in his quest for glory, Alex de Minaur beat Andreas Seppi in straight sets to win the Sydney International title against all the odds.
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A fighter, relentless and insatiable in his quest for glory, Alex de Minaur won the Sydney International title against all odds.
Rain had postponed de Minaur’s semi-final on Friday night, forcing the teenager to play his semi against Gilles Simon, and final against Andreas Seppi, on the same day, within hours of each other.
De Minaur won both games in straight sets, becoming the first local since Bernard Tomic in 2013 to win the Sydney title in its last iteration, with the tournament to be replaced by the new ATP Cup from 2020.
The 19-year-old de Minaur was resilient and composed in his 7-5 7-6 (7-5) victory in the decider over Seppi at 10.15pm, showing little signs of fatigue from his 6-3 6-2 win over Simon that finished just before 2pm.
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A furious de Minaur had earlier slammed Australian Open organisers for scheduling his opening match two days after he was forced to play back-to-back finals in searing Sydney heat.
De Minaur’s semi-final against Simon was postponed at 11pm on Friday night due to heavy rain, and moved to noon on Saturday, meaning he had to play the semi and then back up in the final hours later after defeating the Frenchman.
The prodigy, Australia’s highest ranked male player at world No.29, said playing twice in one day was compounded by his Grand Slam predicament next week.
“What’s more annoying is me having to play on Monday at the Australian Open and not getting helped out as a fellow Aussie at your home Slam,” de Minaur said.
“I think they’re punishing Aussies for playing deep in their home tournaments, and I think that should not be what they should be doing.”
Asked if he’d requested a postponement from Tennis Australia of his first-round match in Melbourne against Portugal’s Pedro Sousa on Monday afternoon at Margaret Court Arena, de Minaur replied: “Yeah, I mean they came out with the schedule before they even saw the halves or saw who was in the finals the week prior.
“I think that’s pretty poor.”
De Minaur’s Aussie Open campaign is essentially being hampered by his success in Sydney, and there is a possibility that had this not been his home tournament, the teenager could have pulled out to give himself a better preparation for Melbourne.
After incessant rain forced Sydney organisers to cancel the semi-final late on Friday, de Minaur returned to his hotel to rest.
Unfortunately, he encountered the hottest conditions of the week in his midday match on Saturday, with temperatures soaring to 34 degrees at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre.
Nevertheless, de Minaur blitzed through Simon in straight sets to earn his place in a second successive Sydney final.
“It was quite hot out there,” de Minaur said after defeating Simon.
“It was pretty brutal condition, it’s probably the hottest day we’ve had, very humid as well.
“Long rallies, pretty taxing, but this is what I do the hard work for, to go out there and back it up.
“It’s crazy that this actually happened,” de Minaur said after winning his maiden tour title, on home soil.
“You guys don’t know much it means to me to do it in front of all you guys, in front of my home.
“There’s nothing better than Sydney, is there?”
He backed up by taking out a well rested Seppi in an intense battle, to the joy of the fans at Ken Rosewall Arena.
De Minaur’s draw in Melbourne has him in line to play legend Rafael Nadal in the third round if both win their opening two games.
Coincidentally, Simon does not have to play his Australian Open first round match until Tuesday, along with Australian Nick Kyrgios, whose last match was the maligned loss to compatriot Bernard Tomic in Melbourne last Wednesday.
Tennis Australia did not respond to requests for comment on this situation.
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