NITTO ATP FINALS

November 14, 2024

Alex De Minaur

Inalpi Arena,Torino

Press Conference

T. FRITZ/A. de Minaur

5-7, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Alex, tough match. Can you walk us through today what happened after winning that first set.

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, overall I thought it was a high-quality match, a match that got decided in moments. Opportunities that I didn't take in the second set. Had a lot of break points and chances to almost take it home.

Yeah, the match changed from that second set. I think it was all up. I played two bad games on serve which led to both breaks.

Yeah, just got to tidy that up if I want to beat these guys.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You still got a winning record against Fritz. Obviously today was pretty close. What is it you like about his game? What fits in for you when you play him?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, it's always a good matchup I think whenever we play each other. It's always a tough battle no matter where we play. We've played from a very young age. He's got his weapons, and I've got my weapons.

Certain times, like at the start of the year or even the first two sets today, I feel comfortable with certain patterns on the court. I feel like I can expose some of his weaknesses.

Again, it's always a tough matchup because he's got that firepower and the serve - the serve that ultimately gets him out of trouble so often. That's what makes it so difficult to beat him, as well.

Q. You could play him again next week at the Davis Cup. Would you look forward to playing him again so soon? How do you generally size up the matchup between Australia and the U.S.?

ALEX de MINAUR: I think it's going to be a very tough matchup. Obviously we've just played here and it was a very close one that in my eyes could have gone either way.

Then Davis Cup, Team Australia is hard to put away. I'm sure we'll give in a good fight.

Q. I know you have a little more tennis in the season, but can you walk us through an average off-season day in terms of the gym and what you're doing diet-wise?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, I think now is definitely a time of reflection, looking at yourself in the mirror, like I've done every other year. There's plenty of areas I can improve on.

As a team we'll sit down and we'll look at every single aspect of my life and try to find percentages to improve on. 'Cause ultimately once you're here in the elite playing against the best players in the world, very small margins.

If you want to keep on improving, everyone else is doing it, so you have to kind of keep tweaking, keep improving, keep looking. That's certain things, whether it's on the court, off the court, gym-wise. All these things, you just got to keep on improving. That's what I'm planning on.

I'm not satisfied with just staying in my career where I am today. I want to keep on improving. That's going to be the goal for next season.

Q. About five years ago now you played Taylor at Next Gen Finals. Can you talk about Next Gen Finals as an event, how important it is for the young guys.

ALEX de MINAUR: There's been I think some very, very strong versions of the Next Gen where you've seen I would say 95% of the players that have played the Next Gen come out and be amongst the best players in the world.

It's obviously a great event. You get to see the next generation. You're probably going to grow up and play each other plenty of times.

It's always a good memory.

Q. Obviously there were a lot of combinations before your match: you needed to win from two sets to love... Do you know all the stuff before coming into a match or you simply don't care and you go out trying to win every single point?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, the way I looked at this match was going out there and trying to win every point. Try to, as I said, even if it was impossible for me to come through, I still wanted to win the match because I'm still playing for points and for money. It's not in my nature to walk on a tennis court and not try 150%.

Yeah, that was a goal. I had a game plan. Wanted to execute it. Wanted to finish off the season on a high note. Would have loved to. Wasn't the case today. A couple missed chances.

Hey, overall it's been a pretty good season.