Australian Open 2025: Alex De Minaur is a clown of a kid whose career became no joke

Alex de Minaur knows his limitations. He had size 11 feet at 11 years of age, the sort of lopsided physical development helpful for a young Ian Thorpe but less beneficial for a wannabe tennis player: ‘I’ve got to deal with what God gave me.’

Alex de Minaur practices at the 2025 Australian Open. Picture: Mark Stewart

Here’s the remarkable truth about Alex de Minaur. Apart from the remarkable ability to overachieve, he’s completely unremarkable. It’s remarkable. I’ve searched his closet and there’s not a single skeleton to be found. He’s simply a nice young bloke trying to be successful. That’s about it.

De Minaur was a bit of a laughing stock as a kid. In an endearing way. He was super-enthusiastic but lucky to play a point without falling flat on his cherubic face. He had size 11 feet at 11 years of age, true story, the sort of lopsided physical development helpful for a young Ian Thorpe but less beneficial for a wannabe tennis player. He’d have been less clumsy in a pair of flippers. “Clown shoes,” is his description. “I didn’t have the best footwork. The best movement.”

He’s grown into his footwear and career, with the best footwork on tour, and the best movement, and he’s reached the third round of the Australian Open, and thanks to the early departures of Casper Ruud and Daniil Medvedev, he could be top five in the world by the end of next week. Remarkable. Battlers outside the top 100 hit a heavier and cleaner ball without coming within cooee of his consistency or results.

He plays Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo on Saturday. It’s a danger match for de Minaur because every match is a danger match for de Minaur. His competitiveness, speed, fitness, courtcraft, work ethic and forehand, regardless of the absence of vicious modern-era topspin, can win a major. His backhand can look off-balance and clunky, though, an ugly duckling of a stroke nevertheless dependable. His serve is becoming more potent and yet it still belongs on the Challenger Tour.

Remarkably, he’s still an Open contender. The mental game is crucial in tennis and he never beats himself. Cerundolo hits bigger than de Minaur – who doesn’t? – and has a win over Jannik Sinner on his resume, proving his threat. Watching them training on Friday, you’d have sworn Cerundolo was the World No. 8 and de Minaur was the World No. 31. He didn’t look any more impressive than a hundred other players. And yet he’s knocking on the door of the top five. Remarkable.

He accepts and chips away at his limitations. At the cards the big bloke upstairs has dealt him. Overpowering no-one, he out-enthuses, out-runs and out-thinks them. Triumphs via out-and-out effort. “If I could blast people off the court, then trust me, I would rather do that,” de Minaur said in his early years on tour. “This running thing gets tiring. I’ve got to deal with what God gave me. He didn’t give me the best physique. I’m not as strong or as tall as other people, so I have to find ways to win.”

Which is – hustling, bustling, snapping at Cerundolo’s heels, running around Rod Laver Arena quicker than Palawa King doing a lap of The Meadows, swinging out of his shoes to find the power other players find effortlessly. He approaches a tennis match with the heart of a bantamweight boxer. “I take pride and I want that to be known – I want that to be my brand of tennis,” he said. “I want people in the locker room to know that if they’re going to beat me, they’re going to have to go through me.”

De Minaur has reached four quarter-finals at the majors. Twice at the US Open, where the courts are a mirror image of Melbourne Park’s slick blue rectangles, and once each at the French Open and Wimbledon. He was playing the most forceful, inspired and vigorous tennis of his life at The All England Club last year then had to forfeit to Novak Djokovic because of a hip injury. I reckon he would have beaten Djoker. I reckon he would have reached the final. He’s inching closer and hope springs eternal at Melbourne Park. “I’ve been in this position,” he says. “I know what I need to do.”