UNITED CUP

January 1, 2024

Alex De Minaur

Team Australia

Press Conference

A. de MINAUR/T. Fritz

6-4, 6-2

Team USA - 0

Team Australia - 1

THE MODERATOR: Alex, congratulations on your win today. Just give us an overview of the match.

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, very happy with the performance, the mindset, and what I brought to the court. I think I showed that I've got plenty of weapons and got a game style that if I want to choose, I can be aggressive and take it to these high-powered guys.

So very happy with the tactics and the way I executed today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. What sort of changed between the other day and today, do you think?

ALEX de MINAUR: I think it's a mindset. I think it's more of a, you know, able to turn over page, it's a new year, put that in the past, and really focus on starting the year on a right note and playing the type of tennis that I want to be playing.

That's, again, aggressive mindset. Just taking it to him. I knew that today I wasn't going to win the match if I was passive, so I did what I had to do and I executed.

So very happy.

Q. You have played some extraordinary matches in your young career, but tonight seemed to just go to another level. If you had to compare tonight's performance to some of your other really good performances, where would you place it? Is that among some of the best tennis you've ever played?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, to be honest, I do bring this level often in practice. I mean, maybe not as often on the match court, but I do know that I'm capable of this level. So it's great to bring it out in a do-or-die match where we kind of needed a scenario where, you know, I potentially needed to win in straight sets.

So I was happy that I could bring the level, play the style of tennis I wanted to. And obviously it's definitely up there with probably top-five best matches I've played.

Q. You said the other night after the Norrie match that that opening game set the tone. Was it fair to say the same for tonight, that you came out of the blocks really fast and it seemed to click from the moment you stepped on?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, it's not easy serving first (smiling). On the first day, I got a taste of it, and I think Cam started really well. Obviously I didn't start great.

Today was a little bit of the same. I started really well and Taylor didn't start great, and then all of a sudden you're on the back foot.

Yeah, but I think it was just a completely different mindset. I was playing positive tennis from the get-go. I didn't have a glimpse of any negativity throughout the whole match. I'm very proud of that.

Q. I know there is a little bit of water under the bridge to go but if the stars aligned and you guys took on Serbia on Wednesday, do you feel like how you played tonight could take up to Novak?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, it's no secret Novak's level, it's incredible, and he's probably the GOAT, if we're honest.

So he started the year strong. It's going to be obviously extremely tough, but it will be a challenge that I'll be looking forward to to hopefully going out there and show what I can do.

Q. I'm just curious to know that the performance you produced tonight, if you could replicate that at the Australian, how deep do you think that could get you?

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, look, I think if we go based on merely rankings, I think the score line today was a pretty good score line against a top-10 guy, right? I know it's over best-of-three, not best-of-five, but I think if I can bring this sort of level, then there's no reason why I can't go out and have a deep run.

That's the goal, but yet again, best-of-five tennis is completely different. And, you know, I'll do my best to try and replicate that at the Australian.

Q. You mentioned out on court that you want to be known more than just as a side-to-side type of player. Can you give us more insight into that and do you feel that maybe you've been boxed in in terms of the outside perceptions of you as a player?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, obviously when you look at me play, the one thing that stands out, it's probably my speed, right? And sometimes it's on me that I rely a little bit too much on my speed and I don't use the other areas of my game, which I think can be very dangerous. I think I can also use my speed to take time away to come to the net, to steal a lot of points at the net and be aggressive.

I've got a lot of different weapons that sometimes I forget to use and I don't bring out. But I think for me to take it to the next level, it's definitely important for me to bring out these extra weapons out for the matches.

Q. You were just saying about bringing this sort of level into practice sessions very, very frequently. What does it take to keep this sort of level match after match after match and how difficult is it to do something like that?

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, look, ultimately I think it just shows that, you know, top 10 in the world, they do this week after week, right? That's the secret. That's what they do. They don't do it just in practice; they do it in matches, as well, right?

Just shows you that only 10 people in the world can do it frequently. So that's the goal. Ultimately for me I'm very close to where I want to be, but again, it's about showing this side of myself as often as I can.