By Michael Chammas
Seventeen-year-old Alex De Minaur has revealed how a two-week sleepover at the Hewitt residence was the secret to his shock Australian Open victory on the first day of his home grand slam.
The teenage sensation announced himself as a future star on Monday with a dogged five-set victory over Austrian Gerald Melzer that resembled plenty of the wins his mentor racked up over 20 years at Melbourne Park.
With Lleyton Hewitt watching on in his box, last year's Junior Wimbledon finalist put up the fight of his fledgling career to hold off match point and claw back from two sets to one down to book a place in the second round against American Sam Querrey.
De Minaur, who was born in Sydney but has spent half of his life in Spain, doesn't have a place to live in Australia, but has been calling the Hewitt residence home in preparation for his maiden grand slam.
Talent: Australia's 17-year-old sensation Alex De Minaur outside Rod Laver Arena on Monday.Credit: Joe Armao
De Minaur, who speaks fluent English and Spanish as well as some French, said he was grateful to live under the guidance of Hewitt, alongside his wife Bec and children Cruz, Mia and Ava.
"It was great to just have that inside advice all the time and get his thoughts on everything," De Minaur told Fairfax Media.
"It was a great preparation for the Australian Open. A very tough pre-season and I couldn't be happier. I stayed with him in Sydney and also at his place in Melbourne. At the French Open last year in the juniors, he came out and we had a nice chat and told me that he would be very supportive of everything I needed.
"It's been unbelievable the amount of stuff he's done for me. I couldn't be more grateful. I spent time with his family and we went out with the family for dinner together ... it was nice."
Winning start: De Minaur beat Austria's Gerald Melzer in five sets on day one at the Australian Open.Credit: AP
De Minaur, whose sponsorship deal with Asics comes to an end after this year, is considered the brightest young prospect coming through the Australian system and is expected to attract plenty of sponsorship attention after his breakout victory.
The son of a Uruguayan father and Spanish mother, De Minaur spent the first five years of his life in Sydney before the family moved to Alicante in Spain.
He returned to Australia eight years later, only to recently return back Spain with his family when his parents' restaurant closed down.
De Minaur didn't attend school in Sydney but was instead provided distance education by Tennis NSW at their Olympic Park headquarters, mixing tennis with education on a daily basis.
His sister lives in Sydney but was unable to attend the match given she is heavily pregnant, while his parents were unable to find a broadcast of the match and were forced to refresh live internet scores of the contest that began at 1am in Spain.
"They didn't watch but live-scored the whole match and it's pretty early over there in Spain," De Minaur said.
"They were just seeing the score change point by point. It must have been tough for them. I got a message as soon as I was done. They were thrilled for me. I'm sure they would love to be here but it's a little bit far away from Spain."
De Minaur was racing the clock to take the court after an abdominal strain forced him to withdraw from the Sydney International last week despite recording his first ATP tour victory in the first round.
But he showed little discomfort in a near four-hour marathon against Melzer, displaying the same dogged characteristics as his mentor to save a match point in the fourth set and go on to claim a 5-7, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 victory.
The teenager earned the nickname "demon" from Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic after he spent time with the Australian team as an orange boy during the Davis Cup qualifier against Slovakia in Sydney last September.
The win caps off an incredible month for De Minaur, who received a wildcard entry into this year's Australian Open after playing in his first ATP event in Brisbane.
"I mean, words can't describe how I'm feeling right now," De Minaur said. "Definitely the happiest moment of my life. I was struggling a fair bit. At the start of the fifth, I was also feeling it. But I thought it was really important to just push through and finally get the win."
The teenager began to cramp in the fifth set but managed to hold his composure to race through the deciding set and seal a memorable win.
"I really didn't expect to come out with a win today. But the fans, everybody, it was just an unbelievable experience. I wouldn't change it at all. As I said before, definitely the happiest moment of my life."