THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 4, 2024

Alex De Minaur

Press Conference

A. DE MINAUR/J. Munar

6-2, 6-2, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: How are you feeling out on the grass today?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, very happy. Very good performance today all the way until the end, which it got a little bit tough to kind of finish it off.

But very happy with the level. Played great. I'm feeling really good.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Two very strong straight-sets wins. Going into next match playing a fellow countryman, Kokkinakis, how do you feel about that?

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, he's still got to win, right?

No, he had an unbelievable comeback against Felix. It was amazing. I watched all of it, cheering him on. Not on court. From my sofa.

Yeah, he's playing great. He's doing amazing. Very tough to beat in five sets, as his results are showing. Yeah, I'm looking forward to my next match, whether it's Thanasi or Pouille.

Q. What if it's Lucas? What threat does he pose? What are his challenges?

ALEX de MINAUR: I think he's got the experience on the grass, right? He is a veteran player who, again, his high level is very high, and he can make it very hard on any player out there on his day. So, you know, he's probably going to take it to me.

If I am to play Lucas... I've played him. I don't actually know if I played him in an actual ATP match. I played him in some practice and XOs, but it's always brutal and super tough. Again, I've got to be bringing my A game.

Q. At the end of that match in Paris you had that funny comment about loving clay. I realize it's completely different, but do you have sort of any of the same emotions with grass, that sort of ironic relationship with it, and how does your newfound sort of strength that you have talked about factor into all this?

ALEX de MINAUR: What's driving me this Wimbledon is that I need to put up a decent performance here on the grass because I don't want to be classified as a clay court specialist (laughing). So I'm pushing hard. I'm trying to keep on going.

Hopefully I can have a better result. Therefore, the old clay court specialist gets thrown out of the window.

Q. But does that strength that you talked about in Paris, does that play a role on the grass? It's just a completely different game because...

ALEX de MINAUR: For me, grass has always been more of a natural surface. I've always enjoyed it from a young age. Yeah, ever since the first time I stepped on it, I convinced myself that I was going to love it.

Year in and year out, I think it could be my best surface. I can't tell you exactly because there's so limited tournaments on this surface. But, yeah, I love this swing and look forward to it every year.

Q. Huge disappointment for Katie on court just now. How do you as a couple help each other through those real down moments?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, it's what happens in tennis, right? You have your good days, you have your bad days, and everything in between.

At the end of the day, it's going to be tough. Losing sucks. That's the reality of it. It doesn't matter whether you lose in the first round, in the final, or anything in between, it's never easy.

But I think the most important thing for her is that this match doesn't define her in any way, shape, or form. Yeah, so proud of what she's done, what she's accomplished this whole grass court season. She's just going to keep on kicking on.

Q. It must be tricky in some ways because you're pleased coming off a win, but you can't be bouncing around or happy because, obviously, she's coming off a tough loss. How do you guys balance that?

ALEX de MINAUR: Ultimately, whether it's one way or the other, it's just being there for each other, right? So whatever it is she needs today, I'll be there for her.

Ultimately, it's just another tennis match, right? That's what we've got to try and remind ourselves of. It's not easy by any means, but we try our best to kind of move on.

Q. When you are here at Wimbledon, when you're not playing at the club, what kind of things do you like to do? Are there places you like to go to or things to do?

ALEX de MINAUR: Over the years I've spent more and more time here in London. I've gotten to know it quite well. There's kind of different nooks and places that we enjoy. Anything that involves disconnecting from tennis, that's the main goal.

So we're probably going to stay clear from Wimbledon. We don't really want to be here even in the village. We love the village, but still at this time it's crazy. Anything that's on the outskirts that we can forget about tennis and be normal human beings, that's where we'll be.

Q. Any particular nooks?

ALEX de MINAUR: I don't want to say because they won't be so private anymore (laughing).

Q. Probably more broadly, at match point today at 5-3, the challenge comes. It's called out, you think you've won it. Has that happened to you before on match point, and how do you go about handling that situation? What kind of situation is that for you?

ALEX de MINAUR: It's never easy closing a match. Then you get those slightly unlucky moments that, again, I probably should have closed it out right there. But the match complicates, gets tough, then all of a sudden you're back on serve, right?

I have had I think maybe Medvedev in Paris Bercy. I think something similar might have happened. I can't quite recollect. But I feel like maybe my first match point, like, my ball missed by this much or something similar where you think it's over, but it's not.

I think the biggest difference is that I know I can have a bad game like I did, trying to serve for it, but at the end of the day I know I'm not going anywhere, right? If he gets inspired and turns that set around, I know I'm right back fourth set.

That's the type of mentality I like to have: just bounce back as quick as possible.

Q. Can I ask you about the few fellow Australians and whether you feed off each other at tournaments, especially at majors. Looks like Alexei is going to get up in five sets, as well. Thanasi is just on court now. Are you looking around and seeing each other?

ALEX de MINAUR: It's great. It's uplifting. It's what we've always wanted, right? I remember a couple of years when I was first starting, that there was always talk about lack of players that were playing the best tournaments in the world, top 100. Now there's strength in numbers, and it's great to see.

I don't know how Walton did.

Q. Super tiebreak.

ALEX de MINAUR: Super tiebreak. Again, what Walts has been able to do and just to get to a super, to get to a third round of Wimbledon. You have Pop, who is playing some great tennis. Hopefully he can close it out. You've got Kok. There are so many players, it's just great to see. It just shows how strong we are as a nation.

I think it shows the rest of the world, the other nations, that we're ready. Any team events coming up, we're definitely ready to go.

Q. I just wanted to ask, when you actually got to Court 1 to cheer on and... What exactly happened after your match?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah. Well, I was 5-2 up in the third and Love-40, and all of a sudden I took a lot more time than I probably should have to finish that match.

From then, I did my bike, protein shake, showered, and started running over to Court 1. I got shown to a different gate. There was a whole ordeal, but ended up watching the end of the first. That's when I got there. Then at the start of the second, I was where I was supposed to be seated, yeah.

Q. You were due in here at quarter past 3:00, and we were, like, I think he might be a little bit late.

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah. I'm glad everyone knows there's priorities. Yeah, happy to be where I am, and we move on.