It has been a whirlwind two weeks for 18-year-old Aussie Alex de Minuar. After reaching his first career semifinal at Brisbane in the first week of the season be backed up the performance with a trip to the final in Sydney, where he nearly claimed his first ATP title (he was the youngest finalist at Sydney since 2000).
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All the success has not changed de Minaur’s mindset. He rises to a career-high ranking of 127 in the world in this week’s ATP rankings, but he assured reporters in Melbourne this weekend that he’s not going to change his approach because of a few solid performances.
“It's the same old me,” he said. “Nothing's going to change. I'm still going to get out there on court and leave it all out there, give it my best."
De Minaur will face Tomas Berdych in a night session battle on Hisense on Tuesday night, and though he’ll go in as the heavy underdog against the No.19 seed, he’s more focused on he experience and what he can gain from it, whether he wins the match or not.
“Every single time I step on court, I'm learning something new,” he said. “I'm trying to soak it all up. I'm using it to deal with different types of situations. Against Tomas, it's going to be a very tough match. Then again, I can't wait to get out there. It's going to be fun. Hopefully it's a real good battle.”
De Minaur entered the season with two ATP-level wins to his name and he’s already blown that total out of the water by winning seven matches in just two weeks. He upset Milos Raonic, Feliciano Lopez and Ferdasco Verdasco among others, so it’s not at all out of the question that he can’t pull another stunner against Berdych. With Aussie legend Lleyton Hewitt taking a keen interest, de Minaur will not lack for inspiration, or sage advice.
“He's been a help for a long time,” de Minaur said of Hewitt. “Just gives me advice on how to deal with different types of situations, expectations, pressures, you know, because he's actually been through every single type of scenario you can think of on a court. So I just listen to what he has to say, you know, try to do it on court.”
De Minaur has earned tons of well-deserved support from the Aussie faithful and he’ll get plenty more of that as he battles Berdych on Tuesday. And locals aren’t the only ones taking a shine to the 18-year-old. Andy Murray has also become a big fan. Murray tweeted praise about de Minaur while watching the Sydney final.
In a lot of ways, de Minaur is a spitting image of Hewitt, and that is likely why the fans have taken to him. He’s fierce, fit and focused. He gives maximum effort on every ball, stays composed when things aren’t going well, and has a keen knack for getting the crowd involved in his struggle.
Only one player yet to turn 19 is ranked higher than de Minaur entering this week (Denis Shapovalov), and he’s now officially a player to watch in Melbourne. But the young Aussie won’t let that get in the way of his quest to become a better player. He just wants to give the proverbial 110 percent and let the chips fall where they may.
“I just want to have a good match against Berdych,” he said. “I want to leave it all out there, compete every point, give myself the best opportunity I can to play well. I think that's the only thing I can ask from myself.”