UNITED CUP

January 7, 2024

Alex De Minaur

Team Australia

Press Conference

Team Australia - 1

Team Germany - 2

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Alex.

Q. Alex, great tournament individually for you, and up until this point great tournament for the Aussies too. Mixed emotions, I guess, after tonight?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, of course. I mean, yeah, as you said, it's kind of a bittersweet ending to a great week. I think it was a blast. It was great being around everyone in the team. I think we really gelled together. We played some great tennis.

Hey, we got extremely unlucky at the end not to be in the final (smiling). Yeah, it was a pleasure to be a part of it.

Q. Three top-10 wins for you during the tournament. You must be very happy with your form heading into the Aussie Open.

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I felt great on the court. I felt like I was able to really step it up after my first match and kind of gained that confidence. It's great getting these matches and wins before the Australian Open.

Q. Alex, just on the top 10, you're the 11th Australian man to reach the top 10 in singles. What were your emotions? What did it feel like when you actually found out you had hit top 10?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, I think it's an extremely special moment, and to be able to do it in Sydney on Ken Rosewall Arena in front of friends, family, it's a memory that I'll cherish forever beating another top-10 player, a quality player, and playing an extremely high-level match.

It was very special. There was a lot to play for, but I just love every second that I have here in Sydney.

Q. Were you aware before that you had to win or did you put it out of your mind and just waited to find out at the end?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, ultimately it's very hard to shelter yourself from all these types of things, because social media puts it everywhere, right?

Yeah. Probably didn't want to know, but I stumbled across it, and I knew that it was a chance. But saying that, I just tried to focus on the match. Sascha started really well, was all over me, and I just kind of just tried to find a way out there, kind of prolong that match, and all of a sudden the whole momentum changed and I was able to get on top.

Q. Alex, there's always pressure on an Aussie going into the home open. You know a bit about that. With the results this last week, your top-10 ranking, how does that sit with you with what's going to come your way?

ALEX de MINAUR: Happy to be in this position. I mean, it's a pretty good position to be in.

I played some great tennis going into the Australian Open, my home slam. Going to play in front of friends and family. It's going to be hopefully packed, great energy. I'm stoked. I can't wait to start.

Q. Just generally on the last week, I think the win over Novak was your first against him, if I'm right in saying that. Sascha, I don't think you had a particularly strong record. Do you feel like now that the last couple of weeks, last couple of years or so, that people are now going to start taking you seriously as a contender to take on those big boys?

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, look, I think, you know, this last week has helped my record significantly against top-10 opponents, right? I've shown that I've been able to do it, back it up, and, you know, in two different cities.

It's a great feeling. I'm really happy with how 2024 is going, and hopefully I can keep it going.

Q. You kind of just mentioned social media then. How do you deal with that with just the pressure of it? You kind of mentioned in your on-court interview after the Djokovic win, maybe hinted that there were some negative comments coming at you or whatnot. How do you just sort of deal with social media in the modern age?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, everyone's going to have their opinion. It's the way it is. Some people feel entitled to voice their opinions, and they believe that their opinions have a lot of merit.

But at the end of the day, what happens with me is I see all these things, I see all the reasons why I'm not going to be a good player, I'm not going to make it, I'm not going to improve, and I store it in the back of my head and I use it as my motivation. Ultimately it's my drive that has put me in this position, and the fact that I want to get the absolute most out of myself.

Q. I came across an old article of you when you were a kid sitting, I don't know if it was in this room, but, you know, when you kind of burst into the scene, Sydney International, do you ever think back to what was going through your head back then, what your ambition was then compared with now?

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, probably back then everything was a little bit easier. I wasn't thinking as much. Obviously I'm a new kid on the block and I'm just playing on adrenaline. Hey, I've got nothing to lose every time I step out on court.

You know, often I try to go back to those types of days where, you know, I just didn't have a care in a world. I just went out there, had fun, used the crowd, got hyped up, fired up, and played my style of tennis. I think I've been able to bring that at the start of the year, and it's been definitely very positive so far.