Alex de Minaur: Australian youngster ready to mix it with the top ATP stars

As part of our series looking ahead to 2020 on the ATP Tour, we review the progress of rising Australian star Alex de Minaur, who sits inside the top 20.

The list of names capable of challenging Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer changes depending on which expert you listen to, but Australian Alex de Minaur is another young star who has forced his way into the conversation.

Next month’s Australian Open will see the home nation have three participants in the men’s singles who are ranked in the top 50.

Sitting top of the trio which also includes Nick Kyrgios and John Millman is world number 18 De Minaur, who is still just 20-years-old.

After charging from outside the top 200 to reach the top 50 in style during 2018, he followed that up in 2019 with another strong year of progress which leaves him with the top 10 in his sights and a Grand Slam challenge on his mind.

“That’s the plan, that’s the goal,” he said of mixing it with the top stars in major tournaments as part of an interview with AAP this week.

“That’s where I want to be; playing these top guys in the second weeks of Slams, so there is a real big effort focused on that.”

De Minaur entered 2019 without an ATP Tour title but ends it with three to his name, triumphing in Sydney, Atlanta and Zhuhai.

The best major performance of his career is fresh in his mind, having reached the fourth round of the US Open after a win over seventh seed Kei Nishikori, the first top-10 triumph of his young career.

He also won all three of his matches at the Davis Cup Finals, including a triumph over veteran David Goffin and a notable one over a youngster Nadal has backed for success in the shape of Denis Shapovalov.

And De Minaur almost had a fourth title only to fall to Federer at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.

He later revealed a groin injury had hindered his fitness and confidence much more than many realised in the middle part of the year, impacting him even after making his return to the court, so 2019 could have been even better.

De Minaur has high-profile backers, with Boris Becker saying he “has it all” and Lleyton Hewitt consistently singing his praises.

Offseason improvements to his serve and strength levels are expected to yield results, complementing his quickness and tenacity.

This time last year, Stefanos Tsitsipas was at a similar ranking and reached the last four at the Australian Open to set up a year that saw him win the ATP Finals and launch himself into 2020 major contention.

De Minaur, whose country face Greece and Tsitsipas as part of their ATP Cup group, has been watching closely.

"“Tsitsipas is a year older than me, he’s been doing crazy things and now it’s my turn to hopefully step up and in my own journey be able to knock off as many goals as I can,” said Alex de Minaur.“The way I’ve been able to finish the year, it’s given me a lot of confidence and I know where I want to be and now it’s all about just keeping that level and trying to contend for more and more titles and hopefully higher level titles.“The main goal is to be healthy the whole year, keep pushing myself, keep pushing my boundaries and keep trying to climb up the rankings.”"

Australia are in one of the most competitive ATP Cup groups along with Greece, Shapovalov’s Canada and a Germany team led by Alexander Zverev.

With that and the first Grand Slam of the year coming on home soil, Alex de Minaur has an early chance to show he can live up to the hype in 2020.