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NEXT GEN ATP FINALS

November 8, 2018

Alex De Minaur

Fiera Milano, Italy

A. DE MINAUR/T. Fritz

4-3, 4-1, 4-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Tell us something about this experience. You're dominating.
ALEX DE MINAUR: It's been a great week. I played some great tennis.

And I knew coming in that all of the opponents here, they play some seriously good tennis, so I was going to have to be on top of my game. And I'm very proud with my efforts the three days.

Q. And did you expect from No. 208 at the beginning of the year to become No. 31 or it's a big surprise for yourself too?
ALEX DE MINAUR: It's definitely a big surprise. I never expected almost anything that happened this year. It's been a hell of a year. I've enjoyed every second of it and it's given me a hunger for more.

Q. How much do you sort of change your approach? I believe you play Jaume next in the semis, somewhat different players compared to your last two matches. Does it change your approach at all?
ALEX DE MINAUR: It's just another match. Obviously, going into each day you've got different tactics. And tomorrow will be different, but I just want to go out there and keep doing what I've been doing. I've been serving well. I've been playing confident and, yeah, just leaving it all out there again.

Q. And speaking about it being somewhat of a surprise, your rise, a little bit, what do you think you've grown the most with as a player?
ALEX DE MINAUR: I think it's probably mentally. That's one of the things I've really focused on this year. And to feel like at the moment I belong here where I am and I feel that I believe in myself, I believe in my game, and I think that's been the biggest change.

Q. Was there a moment maybe that it sort of dawned on you that you do belong here?
ALEX DE MINAUR: Probably -- I had an insane start of the year. And after that, one of the main focuses for me was to not make that a one-off. To be able to have that same level throughout the whole year. And I'm very happy to be able to back up that level almost week in and week out.

Q. And about Gutierrez, you speak with him in Spanish and is he a Spaniard?
ALEX DE MINAUR: He's Spanish. He's been my coach for almost 10 years.

Q. Who got him first? Who found him?
ALEX DE MINAUR: So when I was in Spain and I was about eight years old, I went over to his club, and that's where we sort of met. And from then on, he's pretty much watched me grow as a player and as a person as well.

And he knows my game insanely well. He's seen it develop. And even though I've sort of -- I parted ways and went to Australia because of my family and all that, but we always stayed in contact. And he's one of those guys that probably knows me better than I know myself.

Q. Was he a good player or not?
ALEX DE MINAUR: He got an ATP ranking. He coached his brother Sergio Gutierrez to a career high of 150. And then he sort of was out there in the club, and at the moment I trained in a very small club over there in Alicante.

And it just helps me keep grounded and focus on the important things in life.

Q. When you were a kid, you were looking more to the Australian champions or to the Spanish champions?
ALEX DE MINAUR: Well, growing up, my idol was always Lleyton. And I remember just watching him play and just going outside onto the garage door and just practicing and trying to be like him and all these little things.

So growing up, watching him play, one of the things that always stuck was his fighting ability and his never-say-die attitude. So that's one of the things that I've always wanted to replicate when I play.

Q. Just sort of a different question. Have you always been this fast? I mean, one of the things that's come to sort of define one of your strengths is how quick you are on the court. Was that something that was just always since you were a little kid?
ALEX DE MINAUR: Not at all. Yeah, growing up in the juniors, it sort of probably just clicked maybe three, three years ago. Before that, I was clumsy. I had big feet. I moved really bad on court, and I sort of had to use my sort of instinct to move around because I wasn't the biggest guy, and I wasn't the strongest guy, and I didn't move well.

So I had to develop a little bit of a core craft and find different ways to win matches. And I think all of that has helped me develop and be the player that I am now.

Q. Looking at your scores and results, I thought that perhaps the click to convince you to persuade you that you were becoming a great player or a good player was at the US Open when you played five sets with Cilic. So was it that moment or before you start thinking, oh, I can become really good?
ALEX DE MINAUR: Well, I felt like I've had a lot of matches this year against high-quality opponents, and, you know, just being, you know, that one step away.

My match against Cilic at the US Open was incredible. I mean, I was two sets to Love up and it sort of just slipped away, but I played some great tennis. And I had another close one in Davis Cup earlier this year against Alexander Zverev where I lost 7-6 in the fifth.

So there's been a couple sort of heartbreakers there, but my goal is to learn from them and hopefully next time it's a different outcome.

Q. And there was a specific moment when you grow up the confidence?
ALEX DE MINAUR: I would probably say once I got into the top 100, I felt really well because that was a goal for me at the start of this year.

And then to be able to really push and, you know, start getting great results like in Washington, making the final there and sort of really being able to draw up my ranking, it's been great.

Q. Do you make anything of the fact that you're going to be playing the first match tomorrow. I don't know if you know that. But does it make any difference playing in the evening as opposed to playing in the day? Any advantage for you preparation-wise playing in the evening? I mean, I know it's not weather. You don't have to deal with that, but is there any advantage to playing at night as opposed to earlier in the day?
ALEX DE MINAUR: So it's at 7:30?

Q. 7:00 tomorrow.
ALEX DE MINAUR: 7:00. Okay. Well, it just depends what you're used to. I mean, it's a completely different way to start the day.

It's a bit more relaxed. You try to sleep in a bit more. You try not to come to the courts too early because it could be a long day. So you try to spend as much time as you can in bed, really, just relaxing. And then once you come over here, you sort of get into tournament mode, into game mode.

So it doesn't make a big difference because we are indoors, so it's sort of the same conditions. So, I mean, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and we'll see what happens.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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