Lob and Smash
Fansided

Do you think that now is finally the time that Alex de Minaur makes his mark in men’s tennis?

By Myre Aberdan

TORONTO, ON - AUGUST 12: Alex De Minaur of Australia serves against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain during Day Six of the National Bank Open, part of the Hologic ATP Tour, at Sobeys Stadium on August 12, 2023 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - AUGUST 12: Alex De Minaur of Australia serves against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain during Day Six of the National Bank Open, part of the Hologic ATP Tour, at Sobeys Stadium on August 12, 2023 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Alex de Minaur, the bright eyed future star on the men’s tennis tour, will later today take to centre court at the Canadian Masters in search of his first ever Masters 1000 title. Gunning to become the first Australian man since Lleyton Hewitt to win a Masters 1000 title, de Minaur has the world of expectation (and adversity) at his feet. Boasting appalling an 0-5 record against Sinner, a win here could propel de Minaur into uncharted territory, ending the week with a +1000 point differential boost. In conjunction, a win would also serve as a fantastic opportunity to exorcise the demons of Sinner in a high-stakes environment. A loss, however, will not be particularly disheartening either, leaving the young Australian with the biggest cheque of his career and the equivalent of 4 titles (250s) worth of points up his sleeve heading into the back half of 2023.

Despite the trajectory is career has taken, there most definitely seems to be a case to be made that the slow hard courts of the US swing are the courts most suited for Alex de Minaur’s game. In his career so far already, he has made the final of the Washington 500, a grand slam quarter-final at the US Open, as well as won 2 titles in Atlanta. In a topsy-turvy 2023, it’s easy to forget that this year, de Minaur achieved some of the greatest results of his young career, beating then world number 2 Rafael Nadal in 3 sets at the United Cup in January. A month or so later, de Minaur then claimed the biggest title of his career, winning the Mexican Open 500 level tour event. De Minaur then experienced a mixed bag of results- but brought his season back to life making the final of Queens, losing to eventual champion and Wimbledon winner Carlos Alcaraz.

However, the last week has been nothing short of a dream run for de Minaur. Exactly 7 days ago, Alex de Minaur made the final of Los Cabos, but fell to world number 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas. A week later, de Minaur finds himself in a Masters 1000 final. Already at a career high of ranking of world number 12, a win later today could see de Minaur just 1 spot shy of a top 10 berth come US Open.

All in all, do you think that now is finally the time that Alex de Minaur makes his mark in men’s tennis?

Home/Tennis News