UNITED CUP

January 2, 2023

Alex De Minaur

Team Australia

Press Conference

A. de MINAUR/R. Nadal

3-6, 6-1, 7-5

Team Australia - 1

Team Spain - 0

THE MODERATOR: Well done, Alex. Where do you rank this win among the best in your career?

ALEX de MINAUR: I think it's definitely up there. It's one of those wins that, you know, it's one of those achievements that you have unlocked in your career.

But also, it's a big win for myself, one that I really needed. I'm gonna cherish and use, take all the confidence from this and be able to hopefully take it to have a good Aussie summer.

THE MODERATOR: Lleyton, what were you most proud of Alex tonight?

CAPTAIN HEWITT: There was quite a few momentum swings throughout the match, and after being up an early break in that first set and then sort of letting it slip a little bit, and then Rafa really going full steam ahead, and he looked awfully confident, and for Alex to dig deep early in that second set and not let it get too far away from him was really important. He wrestled the momentum back, and after that it really could have gone either way but that gave him the opportunity to get back in the match.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Congratulations on the win tonight. Amazing atmosphere out there. On home soil. What was it like to play in front of the crowd?

ALEX de MINAUR: Oh, it's always a surreal experience. I mean, just walking out there and hearing the support I get on that court is pretty special.

Obviously no secret it's my favorite court to play on in front of friends and family. I've had so many great memories, and I've been able to add another one to it. I'm extremely stoked.

You know, so thankful for all the support I get on this court.

Q. Alex, was there any one moment or stage of the match that stands out the most for you? Was it the second set, winning that 6-1? Was it a case of winning the last 10 points in a row? The break to go up 6-5? Can you pinpoint any one aspect that really stands out?

ALEX de MINAUR: I think for me there's two moments. There's the moment where I'm up a break in the third and 30-Love up on my service game, and I just get broken by Rafa being too good. Then him kind of holding quite easily, it felt like the whole momentum was kind of swifting [sic].

I had to have a chat to myself in the change of ends and just tell myself to, you know, You're exactly where you want to be, stay calm, let's focus on one point at a time, let's try to get our service game and we'll get more chances.

That was a big moment for me where maybe in the past I could have kind of let the situation ride and let him go on a little bit of a run.

I think the second moment was just the way I was able to finish off the match, which was a big win for me. I did basically what I've always wanted to do, serve cannons and not have to play too many long points (smiling) when you serve it out. I was very happy with myself there.

Q. Lleyton, can you put it in words what it means for a young player to have a breakthrough win like that against such an accomplished player? Mentally what can it do for someone like Alex?

CAPTAIN HEWITT: Oh, well, obviously Alex has so much respect for Rafa. You know, he's one of the greatest, if not the greatest, ever to play the game. So, you know, it's a daunting thing for anybody to go out there and play against those players.

Alex has been fortunate, he's done it a few times now. Three years ago he got the same opportunity out here. Yeah, it went awfully close that night as well.

For him to actually have the belief in closing it out, that's the confidence that he's going to take from this to be able to do it against those best players in the world, and Rafa obviously is the defending champion going into Melbourne in a week's time.

Yeah, he deserves to be confident and really happy with his performance. Yeah, I think for him, just the way he's been able to bounce back from couple nights ago where he lost his opening match and be able to turn it around. Yeah, I think he's gonna get a lot of confidence from it moving forward, not just this summer but also throughout the year.

Q. I know you just only have gotten off court but have you had a chance to sit back and actually reflect you have just beaten Rafael Nadal?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, it's still pretty raw, I would say. Look, I'm very happy. I'm sure over the next coming days I'll be able to let it really settle. But also don't want to dwell on it. It's an unbelievable win, and it's going to do great things for myself and my confidence and my form going into the Australian Open. But, you know, still the big picture is the Australian Open.

I'll get back on the training court and work on a couple things that I could have done better. You know, hopefully get to the Australian Open in the best possible form to go out there and have a couple weeks of good tennis there.

Q. Were you able to enjoy that match as it was progressing? It was a spectacle with that atmosphere, as well.

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, there's two sides to a match like that. You kind of want to stay in the moment. Another part where you're just enjoying the atmosphere, the crowd, and you almost want to get the crowd involved after every single point and get fired up after every single point.

I think that's probably the biggest thing I took out. For me, one of my New Year's resolutions is just to try to be happier and just enjoy myself, enjoy the moment.

I think I did that very well today. I was able to stay calm in some pretty tight situations.

Q. Were you able to, the fact that you played Cam Norrie a couple of nights ago, how much of a benefit was that, getting a left-hander, a match against a left-hander and then coming up obviously against the greatest one of all time tonight?

ALEX de MINAUR: Of course it was good to kind of get the patterns. They're still very different players. It was good to kind of get my eye on return, a couple of different spins here and there. But, yeah, I definitely felt a lot more comfortable on the court today.

Q. Lleyton, I don't know how much you follow social media, though I guess you may have heard Nick put out a tweet the other day implying he had been sort of been thrown under the bus. Have you spoken to him? Are you planning to?

CAPTAIN HEWITT: I'm not going to go into it tonight, Mate. Thanks.

Q. You won't speak to him before the Aussie Open?

CAPTAIN HEWITT: This is Alex's night, Mate. Thank you.