CINCH CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 25, 2023

Alex De Minaur

Queens Club

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/A. de Minaur

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Alex de Minaur. Can I please get the first question.

Q. Bad luck, Alex. Can you reflect on the match and your whole week here. How do you feel going into Wimbledon on the back of reaching the final at Queen's?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, obviously I'm very happy with the week all up. Very positive week for me to get a lot of matches on the grass, get the confidence up, making the final here.

Now, today was a tricky match. I think the wind played a bit of a part on the match today, which was unfortunate that we couldn't go out there and just play some great tennis. I think it affected the level a little bit.

But ultimately, look, had a great week. Today I had my chances, as well. Just a couple of points here and there that didn't go my way and kind of the match could have changed a hell of a lot. But overall I'm happy with the week.

Q. The two breakpoints in that first set, was that really the turning point?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, honestly, I look at that match and I can't really tell you -- I don't think they were turning points as such. I think I had my opportunities there, and I had a kind of a short ball, and then a big gust of wind kind of made me overrun the ball a little bit and I had my chances there. Then, you know, he came up and played well in that moment and got the break.

And then in the second set I think it probably was a little bit on me. Obviously the game I got broken, I hit two doubles. With the wind, it was tough to serve at times. The ball was moving a whole lot, and then the kind of slight chances that I had in the second set he came up with massive serves. You know, that's just too good and you can't say anything else.

Q. Just wondering how comfortable you feel on grass now, and playing this week, what confidence do you take, the fact that you were able to play so deep in the tournament?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I think any time I step out on a grass court I'm very confident. It's a part of the year that I really enjoy. I think it suits my game really well. I can, as I have shown this week, make a lot of my opponents, you know, find their weaknesses and exploit them.

Look, overall, a great week, feeling confident. Now on to Wimby.

Q. I don't know if you'd heard about the news about Nick Kyrgios unable to play in Mallorca. Obviously hasn't played one match in nine months. Just wondered if you reflect on being the leader of this Australian crew, a quite powerful crew, and also looking at Nick, the prospect that he might not be the at Wimbledon and that you'll be leading the charge?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, you know, it's unfortunate for Nick. We don't know. He still might be able to make it for Wimbledon.

But yeah, I have kind of been in this position for a while, and I think all of us Aussies, we're a tight-knit group and we've got a lot of chemistry and we're pushing each other to get bigger and better things.

We were able to make the Davis Cup final last year and get very, very close to taking it all the way. I think that was just a testament to what us Aussies can do when we stick together and we play with passion and pride.

And yeah, come Wimbledon, I'm sure, well, I'm hoping that all of us Aussies can go out there and play the sort of tennis that we know we can play.

Q. A couple of things. If there was one positive above all that you take away from this week going into Wimbledon, what would that be? Would it be something like getting more matches on the grass? And the second thing is I believe you move up to 16, which will get you a top-16 seeding for the Championships. It's one off your career best. How important is that aspect to be a top-16 seed?

ALEX de MINAUR: The positive for the week, for me, I think has been my mentality, my mindset, how calm I have been on the court and how I have backed myself at every stage. When I'm in that kind of mindset and attitude, I can beat anyone. Even if things don't go my way, I'm content because I know I left it all out there and I try to play the way that I want to play. So that's a big positive for me coming into Wimbledon.

Now, top-16 seed, look, at the end of the day, in theory you might get a little bit more protected with your seeding, but you can play anyone first round and it's no secret. There's a lot of very dangerous players that are unseeded, and that can be very tricky.

So it's a good spot to be. Hopefully I can have a good Wimbledon. Hopefully I can reach a career high, but I'm taking it very, very slowly.

Q. You're one of the game's deeper thinkers. What do you make of Carlitos' form and play on grass? What are his best weapons, and do you think he's a serious contender to win the title in a couple weeks' time?

ALEX de MINAUR: I think anyone that wins Queen's is in pretty good shape come Wimbledon. I think obviously he's shown throughout the week how he's able to adapt and play a lot better throughout the week.

You know, I think he got better every day. Now, today I think the match was, kind of got hurt a little bit with the wind, but yeah, he's been able to adapt his game style a little bit more. You know, he's always had great hands, so he's looking to be aggressive. And I think he's hiding his backhand quite well with his slice. Then obviously, you know, the forehand, when he's got a lot of time, he can hurt you basically from anywhere (smiling).

I think his serve as well. He's been able to get a couple cheap points here and there. I think today in big points he was able to come up with big first serves and it got him out of trouble.

Q. (Question about being underrated.)

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, 137, 138. Look, I think that part of his game is underrated. But I think today he showed in the important points he had a massive serve, and at times I put myself in that position and you can only say "Too good."

Q. A sort of variation on that question. You have obviously been around the game a lot now, Alex. The bookmakers have Novak as odds-on favorite to win Wimbledon. I mean, knowing grass, do you think anyone can be an odds-on favorite for Wimbledon? Or is it as heavy as he appears to be?

ALEX de MINAUR: I think he's always going to be the favorite. But that does not mean that -- yeah, we're in a sport that anything can happen on any given day. If the favorite won every single time, it would be quite a boring sport.

Look, you never know. I think there's a lot of very tricky opponents come the grass, and, you know, Novak is for sure the favorite, I think, but I'm sure there's a lot of players that can, yeah, definitely hurt him and make it quite difficult for him. He'll have to play, you know, his best tennis, for sure.

Q. You pulled out of Eastbourne, and that's pretty understandable. You'll go down there, I'm assuming. What will you do then with this week coming up, and again, how important is it just to be able to wind down a little bit and be a bit more relaxed instead of having to really think about matches and stuff like that going into something like Wimbledon?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, 100%. I'll be taking a couple of days off, for starters, and then probably start hitting back on maybe Wednesday. Then, you know, slowly get myself ready to play Wimbledon.

Yeah, I have had a great week here, and it's time to kind of rest the mind, enjoy myself, maybe play a little bit of golf and get ready for hopefully a good run at Wimbledon.