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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 9, 2018

Alex De Minaur

Indian Wells, California

A. DE MINAUR/J. Struff

3-6, 7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That seemed like it was really intense, especially that third set, huge game at 3-4, coming back. Talk about your emotions, what you were thinking.
ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, it was a match with lots of ups and downs. You know, that 4-3 game I thought was huge. You know, I thought that was really important for me to get that game and then, you know, was going to have a 5-3 lead and hopefully, you know, have two options, trying to close it out.

Didn't go my way. It was about just regrouping and, you know, just getting back to what I was doing, which was running and making balls, you know, and trying to find a way.

Q. Often when a player is up a break like that in a final set and they lose the break, things might start to fall apart. Where do you find it in yourself? As we saw in Sydney and Brisbane and all that in January, you seemed to still amazingly dig things out.
ALEX DE MINAUR: Well, it's just another game. You know, after pretty much every point you've got to regroup. Whether it goes well, whether it goes badly, you can't, you know, dwell on the past. You've got to move on. The quicker you move on, the quicker you can get back on what you want to do. And that's playing tennis and, you know, playing well.

Q. Do you find that's part of your makeup or is that something you have developed and learned?
ALEX DE MINAUR: Well, you know, you sort of have to work hard on these things. I'm glad, you know, it's in my head, and that's what I think about every time I go out there on court, you know, to leave it all out there, every point. No matter the result and no matter how I'm playing or whatever happens, you know, just to go out there and give 150%.

Q. Are you still carrying some of that positive energy from your Australian success?
ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah. I mean, I had a little bit of a break, you know, four weeks off competition, so today was a little bit rusty, but these things happen.

Obviously, the Australian summer was huge for me. You know, I'm just trying to keep that confidence going and keep my game going.

Q. There was the stomach muscle issue I think at Davis Cup. How long did it take to get over that and is it all clear now?
ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, you know, it took those four weeks to completely recover and be 100%, which I am right now.

Things happen like that. You know, got to take care of the body. I did what I had to do to get ready for here.

Q. Thoughts on Delpo?
ALEX DE MINAUR: It's going to be a fun match. You know, I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be another match where I'm probably going to have to do a lot of running, but I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Has Lleyton spoken to you at all about that match or is it still too early?
ALEX DE MINAUR: I'm sure we will talk about it tomorrow. Today everything was just too fresh. You know, I finished my match and did all my recovery and all that. So just haven't really thought about the next match yet.

Q. What's your height at the moment? With the younger guys, sometimes it changes?
ALEX DE MINAUR: At the moment, I'm 181.

Q. Just talk a little bit about optimizing your game for your height.
ALEX DE MINAUR: It's a learning process every day. I try to improve aspects of my game. You know, I've got to adapt. Since I'm not the biggest guy and the strongest guy, I've got to use other assets of my game to compete. So that's what I try to bring to the court, that versatility and, you know, that competitive spirit.

Q. I wanted to hear your opinion on the ITF project for the Davis Cup. I know your captain, Lleyton Hewitt, is against it. I wanted your thoughts about it.
ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, completely against it. I think it's a way to ruin a competition with an amazing amount of history. I'm not for it.

Q. How big is it to win your first Masters 1000 match?
ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, pretty huge, especially the way I did it today, digging deep in the third, you know. And starting the match when it was still sunny and going through when the sun went down, and the conditions got a little bit slower and everything changed. I'm very happy I got through that.

Q. You're sort of a difficult guy to put in a box as far as being a player goes because, like you said, you're small, you run around to stay in points, but you also try to be offensive. Talk about that balance and what allows you to do that.
ALEX DE MINAUR: I think, you know, depends on the day. Depends on the player and depends on the conditions. Every day is a new day and you've got to just see what's working. If something's not working, you know, you have to change it up and try something else.

Depends on the opponent. You know, some days I try to be more aggressive. Some days I try to be just more solid. It completely depends on the opponent.

Q. Are you looking at the ranking at all? I mean, 127 on a career-high just a few weeks ago. Obviously a small slip. But are you using that as a target ranking, goal setting or anything?
ALEX DE MINAUR: Well, I do have my goals, you know, and that's to finish top 100 by the end of the year, but I'm taking it day by day. You know, it's just another match. Don't really have to focus on my ranking at the moment. You know, it's about winning matches and getting out there and competing and leaving it all out there.

Q. Irrespective of what happens here, is Miami in the cards for you, as well?
ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah.

Q. Are you going as a wildcard or qualifying?
ALEX DE MINAUR: Qualifying.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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