Alex de Minaur striving for greatness after recovering from Covid
Tennis star Alex de Minaur has opened up on his battle with Covid as he strives to make a splash at the Australian Open.
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Australian men’s No. 1 Alex de Minaur isn’t taking tennis or life for granted after being struck down by Covid-19 on the eve of last year’s Tokyo Olympics, using it as motivation to enjoy the simple things in life and tennis.
De Minaur was forced to withdraw from the Olympics, robbing him of the opportunity to live out his childhood dream. But rather than dwelling on an opportunity missed, the 22-year-old instead took life lessons and developed more drive during the scary time in his life.
“It was obviously a tough time and missing the Olympics wasn’t ideal, but things happen,” de Minaur, who is an ambassador for eniQ, told news.com.au.
“I’m prioritising my health, I’m very happy to be healthy and back on court doing what I love. I had to recover through that tough time and at the end of the day I’ve learnt a lot of things about myself, what to put in my body to make sure I’m healthy and recovery is almost as important as the preparation.
“We’ve been able to adapt a lot over the last couple of years through the pandemic, we’ve learned not to take things for granted, such as being able to do the things you love and in the sport of tennis, playing in front of a big crowd.
“It gives you a bit more drive, a bit more hunger and a fire in the belly to come out and perform and do all the things we’ve missed out on over the last couple of years in life and not take things for granted.”
De Minaur, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 15 midway through last year, spent part of his pre-season training in the Spanish city Alicante, where he was put through gruelling sessions that will prepare him for the challenges of the new tennis season.
He was accompanied by his dog, a golden retriever named Enzo, who completed every part of a tough hill sprint session along rocky terrain with ocean views.
“I’ve got family there so I did the start of my pre-season there and it was a great place to be, it was a great spot to train,” de Minaur said.
“We try to mix it up as much as possible per session so it doesn’t get repetitive. So as well as hill sprints we had beach sessions on the sand and we had actual running sessions up mountains. It was very tough but it was a lot of fun.
“It was the first time I’ve brought Enzo with me and to be honest, I had no idea how he was going to react.
“It was in quite a remote area, there wasn’t a lot of people around, so he was able to do whatever he wanted but he actually joined me – he joined me for all the hill sprints I had to do, he had a very tough workout, which was quite amazing. I didn’t expect him to hang along with me.
“We went back about three or four days later to do the same thing and Enzo had other plans. He did two of the hill sprints with me and then decided to stay next to the ocean and have a swim. He didn’t quite enjoy (the workout) as much as the first day that’s for sure.”
Coming off a year in which he won two titles and reached world No. 15, de Minaur hopes that brutal pre-season will help him achieve bigger goals he has on his mind, including cracking the top 10.
“As a player you want to get to the best, you want to strive for greatness. I’m a little bit of a perfectionist myself, so sometimes I’ve got to learn to not be too hard on myself and remember to enjoy the moment,” he said.
“It was a great moment getting to number 15 but I’ve got bigger and better goals in my head. I want to continue to strive to get better both as a human being and on the tennis court, I want to get the most out of myself, that’s the main goal.
“If I can continuously push myself to get better and improve then I’m doing everything I can in my power and if I can do that, everything else will come along.
“(Top 10) is a goal, obviously I wouldn’t say it isn’t because I want to get to as high as I can get to but that’s going to take time and I’m willing to put in all the hard yards to get there. Hopefully we can reach that milestone in the near future.”
De Minaur again opened his season at the ATP Cup this year, where he recorded a stunning win over world No. 7 Matteo Berrettini, which he hopes will help to set up his year.
He will begin his Australian Open campaign against another Italian – Lorenzo Musetti – and kick-off the night session on Margaret Court Arena on Tuesday night.
De Minaur faces a tough draw – should he win his first-round match, he could face another Italian, and renowned five-setter, Andreas Seppi before a potential clash against No. 8 seed Casper Ruud in the third round.
But he says he’s ready for any challenge, including more tough five-setters, that comes his way.
“These are the matches I want to be playing not only at the start of the season but all year round,” de Minaur said.
“I’m up for the challenge, I’m ready to go. I had a tough pre-season to prepare myself for this summer of tennis so I’m really excited. It’s going to be a great test to see where I’m at and what I need to do. I won’t shy away from the battle.
“I’ve got a lot to help me in those tough matches, those brutal five-setters and long, physical matches. I’ve got the experience of playing them, I’ve got the knowledge that I’ve worked really hard this pre-season … I’ve got a lot I can draw upon for those tough matches and they’re going to give me that edge. The longer the better right now, and the hotter the better as well.
“That’s what you want to be known for – you want to be known in the locker room as being that competitor that’s never going to go away, that’s always going to leave it out there and they’re ready for however long it takes.
“If I can portray that image and let the world know that, then I’ve won half the battle.”
Originally published as Alex de Minaur striving for greatness after recovering from Covid
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