Alex de Minaur moving on quickly from US Open disappointment for Davis Cup tie in Sydney
Australia's tennis star Alex de Minaur has confronted his serving demons ahead of a crucial Davis Cup clash that could send the team to November's finals.
Alex de Minaur didn’t think the tennis world would see anything like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, until Novak Djokovic came along.
But now the world No.8 sees in world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner two more players “setting the standard” he and every other grand slam hopeful needs to chase and it’s a challenge the Australian is up for.
After arriving in Sydney on Sunday for this week’s Davis Cup tie against Belgium, the first at home since 2022, de Minaur didn’t rise early to watch Alcaraz take down his Italian opponent and claim the US Open title, turning the tables on their clash at Wimbledon.
Without even a grand slam semi-final on his resume, de Minaur painted a clear picture of what he and his peers are up against in the search for titles.
“They’re the ultimate competition,” he said.
“For the rest of us, it’s kind of up to us to bridge the gap and keep on improving. There’s no real other way than to chase those guys, they are setting the standard. It’s what the rest of us are trying to get to.
“We’ve seen it over the years with Roger and Rafa, then Novak came along. We didn’t think there was going to be anything better than those two then Novak came along and broke all those records.
“Now those two are the two players to compete against. We have to get ready to compete against them for a while.”
Improvement for de Minaur has to come in his serving, which continues to let him down in the “big matches”.
But he is adamant he’s making the right tweaks to ensure it stands up in this week’s rare home Davis Cup tie, feeling “warm inside” about his Sydney return.
De Minaur returns to Sydney after squandering his push for a maiden grand slam semi-final berth at the US Open due in part to a dismal serving display in his quarter-final against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
De Minaur left New York dejected after losing his best chance to get over the quarter-final hurdle he’s now fallen at six times and is well aware of what he needs to change to break through the grand slam barrier.
“I’ve been focusing on it for the better part of my career, and it’s been a gradual improvement, but recently in the big matches it’s kind of let me down a little bit,” he said of his serve when asked in Sydney on Monday.
“It’s a couple of little tweaks here and there. I just need to do the best I can to improve.”
The 26-year-old turned to a well-worn sports cliche about having the “memory of a goldfish” in order not to dwell on might have been and “move on quickly”, with progression to the Davis Cup finals again his immediate goal.
Australia will take on Belgium with de Minaur at the helm, and he said just being home made him feel “warm inside”, also knowing he’d be doing what he loves the most and representing his country again.
He’ll play with Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin and Matt Ebden in captain Lleyton Hewitt’s strong outfit, having finished runner-up twice in recent years.
“The ultimate goal is to lift the title,” he said.
“That’s been a priority of mine my whole career – that’s why I prioritise these weeks, no matter the schedule.
“For me, these weeks are the funniest in my schedule. It’s a very lonely sport, throughout the year you’re there by yourself, but these weeks, you’re there as a team.
“It’s definitely a different dynamic, which I’m sure we all enjoy a lot.
“Off the court, you’ve got a bit more of a vibe, you’re doing dinners together, there’s a big group. Everyone’s giving each other a lot of stick, which is fun, but when we step out on court, we want to win.
The tie is Australia’s first home Davis Cup clash since 2022 and a win over Belgium this weekend would be enough to advance to the Final 8 in November in Italy.
Belgium will be represented by Zizou Bergs, Raphael Collignon, Kimmer Coppejans and Sander Gille under the captaincy of Joran Vliegen.
