Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Alex de Minaur is not one to make bold declarations.
He’s quietly proud of his achievements, such as finishing the year in the top 10 for the first time, and he’s humble when speaking about surprise wins over Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz almost 12 months ago that helped trigger his best year to date.
But if de Minaur is sure of one thing, it’s that he hasn’t hit his ceiling yet.
“I definitely have plenty of goals in my head [for 2025]. I’m not really one to voice them out loud too often, but ultimately keep pushing myself,” de Minaur said.
“I’ve had my best year to date, but at the same time I’m not satisfied with that. I want more. I want to keep pushing myself. I want to one day finish my career knowing that I gave the absolute max, and everything I could do to be the best possible tennis player.
“So that’s still the goal. Still pushing, still striving for more, keep trying to work hard, get better, and keep tweaking parts of my game to hopefully get those results.”
Alex de Minaur practices on Ken Rosewall arena ahead of the United Cup.Credit: Edwina Pickles
De Minaur had his most impressive year on tour in 2024, after qualifying for the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, the French Open and the US Open, and becoming the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt 20 years earlier to qualify for the ATP finals after finishing the year as world No.9.
He’ll start his 2025 campaign in his hometown of Sydney at the United Cup, which begins for the Australian team in Sydney on Saturday. Last year’s United Cup was a catalyst for de Minaur’s successful 2024, and it will bring an opportunity to potentially play some of the world’s top-ranked players such as Fritz, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev ahead of the Australian Open.
“I think it was extremely important [2024 tournament], obviously for my confidence, for using it as a springboard, taking my game to a different level, and also cracking the top 10, and a lot of those milestone moments,” de Minaur said.
Alex de Minaur speaks to the media in Sydney before a practice session on Ken Rosewall arena.Credit: Edwina Pickles
“That was really important for me, and I think I was able to use the confidence that I gathered in the first week of the year and basically have my best year to date … I’ve been blessed to play some of the best players in the world at the start of the year, and it is the perfect way to kind of get ready for the Australian Open and see where your level is at.
“Because, obviously, you have an off-season, you’re training, you’re tweaking different parts of your game, and it’s always good to see how those improvements are working, if they [are], if they’re not and a great tune up for the Australian Open.”
But it was also a year of frustrations for the 25-year-old, after injury forced him to withdraw from his quarter-final clash against Djokovic at Wimbledon, and tainted the middle part of his season.
But De Minaur has put all injury concerns to rest five days out from his first match against Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry, and said he’s back to feeling his best.
“I’m feeling great. It was a tough year obviously dealing with that [injury]. I’m glad to kind of finally put it on the back-burner and forget about it,” de Minaur said.
De Minaur suffered a hip tear during his fourth-round win over Arthur Fils at Wimbledon in 2024.Credit: AP
“I’ve felt very good in this off-season, in this pre-season we’ve put in a lot of good work. The body is feeling very comfortable, and I am genuinely very excited to get started again.”
With the tennis calendar stretching almost 12 months of the year, players can often be exhausted for players by December. But de Minaur said he was able to take some time to recover before the chaos begins again.
“This old tennis world, there’s not a lot of time for that – to unwind – but I have enjoyed the moment. I’ve done my best to relish the achievements we’ve had this year,” he said.
“There’s been a lot of highs and a lot of lows, dealing with injuries at the same time, but more than anything it’s just given me a lot of hunger and fuel to drive for bigger and better things, and this whole pre-season I’ve been motivated because I want more.
“I want to keep pushing myself and keep stirring for bigger, better things, and hopefully, I can accomplish that this year.”
