Fitz:Alex,let’s rip in. Congratulations. What a hell of a year you’ve had so far – now up to No.9 in the world,with a bullet,and we’re all hoping for more,at Wimbledon this week! Take me back to when you were four years old,growing up in Sydney,and first picked up a tennis racquet?
Alex de Minaur is now up to No.9 in the world.Getty
AdM:My parents signed me up for a lesson at the local tennis centre in Carss Park and from then on,I loved it. I went on to play a lot of different sports at the time,but my teachers were impressed with my tennis,and I just found it so much fun.
Fitz:Were your mum and dad “stage parents”,always pushing you?
AdM:No,they were just happy for me to be outdoors. And then we moved back to my mother’s home country of Spain,and at that stage every weekend I was playing a football match and two or three tennis matches – which just wasn’t sustainable. I had to choose one,which turned out to be tennis,and I haven’t looked back ever since. When I moved back to Australia at the age of 13,it was going so well I decided to go into homeschooling and from then on,everything I’ve done in my life has been steered towards being a professional tennis player and being the best possible version of myself that I can be.
Fitz:With a Uruguayan father and Spanish mother,did you grow up speaking English or Spanish in the house?
AdM:It’s a funny one because when we were in Australia,we spoke Spanish in the house,so as not to lose it. In Spain,we spoke English,for the same reason.
Fitz:By the time you turned professional at the age of 18,and both Spain and Australia came knocking on the door wanting you to represent them,was it a difficult choice to make?
AdM:Not really because I feel Australian and,beyond that,Tennis Australia has been so good to me. When my family needed help,they were there with open arms,helped us out big time and really funded me from a very young age. And I’ve always wanted to play Davis Cup and represent Australia. Learning from all those past players,you really get to realise the importance of the culture and history that Australian tennis has always had.
Fitz:On the wider tour,who were the players you looked up to,both in the way they played and the way they behaved?
De Minaur with partner Katie Boulter,also a tennis pro,in Paris last month. “It’s great to have a partner in this world who knows exactly what you’re feeling every single moment.”Antoine Doyen
AdM:I just loved Lleyton Hewitt’s competitive spirit. He wasn’t the biggest,strongest guy,but he just found ways to win. And then,obviously,Roger Federer. I just fell in love with how easy he made tennis look and how he acted – the way he always made tennis kind of a gentleman’s sport.
Fitz:We’ve all admired Federer from a distance as seemingly the world’s nicest,friendliest,most down-to-earth bloke. Is heactually like that?
AdM:Yes. He absolutely is. When I had just started on the tour,he went out of his way to say hello,and called me by my first name,as if he had known me for 10 years. It was just such a cool feeling. He’s been that friendly ever since and is truly an all-round great bloke.
Fitz:When you deeply admire a legend of the game like that,is it hard to summon the aggro needed to smoke a cross-court winner past his chops? Does that sort of feel disrespectful?
AdM:Honestly,it’s one of those things that you learn with experience. Because I’ve been fortunate enough to play with many of the guys I watched on TV. And one of the biggest things that you’ve got to learn – and it’s not easy,by any means – is to lose that awe that you have for them,and you’ve got to take them on,as if they’re just another player. That’s the only way you’re going to have a chance.
Fitz:And this year,that’s worked better than ever?
De Minaur with Ash Barty in 2018 when they shared the Newcombe Medal,the top individual honour in Australian tennis.Justin McManus
AdM:I think my whole career has been a work in progress. It’s been step-by-step. Each year,I’ve added improvements to my game to get stronger. This year,I’ve started to believe a little bit more in myself. And ultimately,what’s going right is I’ve altered my mentality to just tell myself to play the right way,in the big moments. I’ve convinced myself that if I want to beat the best players in the world,then just running side-by-side with them ain’t gonna cut it. I’m gonna have to take it to them and be aggressive and show the many aspects of my game that I do have,that probably in the past I was a little bit reluctant to use.
Fitz:I can’t help noticing that your flowering of form this year comes at the same time as you have added a new coach to your outfit,none other than my godson,Matt Reid – himself a long-time professional tennis player.
AdM:Yes,I’ve had him from the start of the year.
Fitz:The very year you’re cracking it wide open!
AdM:Exactly. It’s been great to add Matt to the coaching team. Basically,I’ve got my long-term coach,who I’ve had for 16-odd years,Adolfo Gutiérrez-Ferrol,and now Matt. It’s been great because it gives two different sets of eyeballs to improving my game.
Fitz:I don’t suppose Matt told you I once beat him in a three-set thriller,10-8 in the third set?
AdM:[Stunned] No,he did not!
Fitz:Yes ... look,he was only seven years old,and it made him tear up,but it was a win!
AdM:[Laughing] We’re playing golf first thing tomorrow,and I’ll make sure I tell him off the first tee,so I can get in his head.
Lleyton Hewitt and de Minaur during the 2022 David Cup clash with Hungary. “I just loved Lleyton’s competitive spirit.”Getty Images
Fitz:Alex,can you bethebest player in the world? Or would you just be content to be top 10 for 10 years?
AdM:Can I be the best player in the world? Yeah,right now,what excites me most is this new era we’re in. In the past,if you wanted to be the best in the world you had to go through Roger,Rafa[Rafael Nadal],and Novak[Djokovic],and they looked like they were going to play forever. But now everything’s opening up,and I see a lot of opportunities. No.1 is still up for grabs for someone to put their hand up and really take it to the rest of the players.
Fitz:So can we lead with the headline? “Alex de Minaur. I can be the best player in the world!”
AdM:[Laughing] That might be a bit much,I think. I am not big on that kind of talk. But I do want toplaylike that.
Fitz:This Wimbledon,the most obvious hurdle for you to overcome will be Carlos Alcaraz. On court,he’s a cross between a raging bull and a ballerina. Have you played him many times?
AdM:Yeah,I’ve played him twice,actually. One time,in Barcelona,I had two match points against him,and that one kind of just slipped away,and then I played him in the final of Queens[but lost that,too]. I’ve actually grown up with him,and he trains in Spain near where I train. He’s been doing some great stuff,that’s for sure. If I play him at Wimbledon,great.
Fitz:Do you still have a sense of wonder,when you’re heading out on to Wimbledon centre court,of:“How good is this?” “How blessed am I?” “Wow”?
AdM:Yes. And I have had a lot of “pinch me” moments throughout my career. I will always remember the first time I played on Wimbledon centre court,and I played Rafael Nadal. It was probably the most terrifying moment I’ve had. But just stepping on centre court and playing Rafa is also one of the coolest feelings I’ve ever had,and I’ve been blessed enough to have a lot of these moments. But I’ve never taken them for granted and the way I see them now is that I must be doing something right if I’m getting the opportunity.
“I will always remember the first time I played on … Centre Court,and I played Rafael Nadal.”AP
Fitz:Rafa,too,looks like one of the world’s nicest blokes. Is he? Or when,at the conclusion of that first match he leant in to shake your hand at the net,smiling,did he actually whisper to you,“Plenty more where that came from,bastardo,so get used to it”?
AdM:[Laughing] No,but I think we’re at the heart of why he’s been so successful and why he’s been such a legend for this sport:his competitive spirit. I learnt from him. It doesn’t matter what the score is,who he’s playing,he’s out there trying to win every single point. And that’s how I always felt when I played him – like I had very little breathing space. Henever takes his foot off the throttle,never gives you any room at all. He’s just relentless and keeps coming and coming and coming.
Fitz:When you play a bloke like that,does it feel like you are in the hands of a master,that you are up against Babe Ruth,Muhammad Ali,Picasso and Einstein rolled into one? Is it all just on another level,as the crowd roars?
Alex de Minaur and his team at the 2023 US Open:L-R) Emilio Poveda Pagan,de Minaur,Matt Reid,Jason Kubler,Jonathon Kubler,Kathryn Oyeniyi and Adolfo Gutierrez.Supplied
AdM:Yes,especially the early stages in my career where,even on a good day,wringing wet,I was lucky to weigh in at 69 kilos,and Rafa’s bicep was about the size of my torso. So the physicality aspect was just like being up against this massive physicalforce. It gave me a lot of pointers in the right direction,it was surreal. I never got the chance to play him at Roland Garros[in Paris],which is basically his home,but I’ve been able to play him on the clay,I’ve played Roger,I’ve played Novak and I’ve played Andy Murray,so I’ve learnt from the best.
Fitz:And you were at your best in the French Open when you beat Daniil Medvedev in the round of 16,before giving it a red-hot go against Alexander Zverev,narrowly falling short at the end. What did you learn from that?
AdM:The biggest thing I took out of that is that there’s no reason why I couldn’t have won that match. I now know I am competitive against the great players on the biggest occasions. And I can put myself in the very deep end of these grand slams so,yeah,it is very exciting for me and hopefully,I can keep on pushing. After that,it was disappointing to lose in the first round of Queens[pre-Wimbledon tournament in London],but that was more because of the quick turnaround from the previous tournament. I’ve had some time now to do a lot of training,a lot of work,and just to chill out a little bit. I know I am ready to go.
Fitz:When you get to the pearly gates 80 years from now,and St Peter shows you to your house,will it have a grass court or a clay court?
AdM:[Laughing] It will definitely have a grass court. It’s true that my best results lately have been on clay,but I’m a grass-court man. It’s always been my favourite surface.
Fitz:So let’s jump forward to the Wimbledon final. You’ve made it! You’re up against Carlos Alcaraz. We at home are looking at you,wondering what you are thinking. Is there a voice that you hear in your head in those moments? Are you saying to yourself,as you bounce the ball as you prepare for your first serve – bounce,bounce,bounce – “Now Alex,remember to throw it high and left”? Or are you hearing your coach’s words or your mother’s words,your father’s words? What’s in your head at such moments?
AdM:In an ideal world,when I’m at my very best,I’m in this kind of flow state where I’m just … very fluid. My ideas are clear,and are coming naturally. I don’t actuallyhave to think,as it’s all instinct,and that’s the state I want to be in. But when things get a little bit more choppy,that’s when I look at my team for words of encouragement,of calm,for signs of how to get me back on track to that kind offlow state. So,yeah,in an ideal world,you will see me kind of just very level-headed,very calm,very relaxed,with no negative thoughts,or reactions,or attitude. Everything justflows,and that’s when I play my best tennis.
Fitz:Meantime,it must be wonderful that the tennis career of your partner,Katie Boulter,from England,is flowering at exactly the same time as yours? She needed a wildcard to get into last year’s Wimbledon,and for this one she is seeded,meaning you’re both at the top of your games at the same time.
AdM:Yes,it’s amazing to be a part of and,yeah,we’re just pushing each other every single day to get better. It’s great to have a partner in this world who knows exactly what you’re feeling every single moment,who knows we can be there for each other on the good days,and the bad.
Fitz:I promise,I seek no tabloid details. But how does it work on tour? Where can a single mingle to find a partner and become one of the doubles couples?
AdM:It was actually just before the Australian Open four-and-a-half years ago. I knew of her,I had seen her around – as of course we’re in the same job – and just asked her out for a little coffee date,and yeah …[dreamily] ... that’s how it all started.
Fitz:All right,we wish you both well with Wimbledon and with life – and please give my love,and a punch in the arm,to Matt – and tell him I have no interest in a rematch. I won.
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