AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 10, 2025

Alex De Minaur

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Alex de Minaur. Alex, welcome back to Melbourne. How do you feel about your preparation so far here?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, it's great to be back here in Melbourne. Obviously very excited to get going. We just got a couple more days till the tournament starts.

Yeah, it's almost go time (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. With Nick back here, does that take some of the attention off you? He draws lots of microphones, eyeballs. Do you have much interaction with him during this period?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, for me, doesn't matter if I'm playing, if I'm not. I kind of just focus on myself and playing tennis, right? That's the only thing that I kind of worry about, is go out there, have the best possible prep that I can for the tournament coming up.

I feel like I've had a great start to the Australian summer. Looking forward to getting started here at AO.

Q. After the back half of last year, how successful it was for you, can you feel the love? Can you feel the love from the fans at the moment?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, it's obviously just amazing to be back home, right? As Australian tennis players, we spend the majority of the year overseas. To get the chance and opportunity to start the year here at home in the summer, it just means the world.

For us, every time I'm stepping out there, I know the crowd is excited for some tennis. They're ready to get the year started. As tennis players, as Aussie tennis players, we want to do everything we can to play some of our best tennis.

Q. I'm curious to find out how you manage to get to the first round without being exhausted, with all the commitments, extra media works, sponsors, that you don't have at some of the other Grand Slams, how do you manage to handle that?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, it's no secret that especially this being my home slam, there's always going to be a few more eyeballs and more commitments that you have to do as a tennis player.

It's always about finding that balance, that healthy balance of doing what you need to do, but also making sure you're getting the work you need to do on the court, off the court, and also making sure you come for the first round and you're ready to go, right? You're not stressed, you're not tired. Just feeling 100%.

For me, I guess there was the bulk of work done at the start of the week. Now as we're getting closer to kind of match day, we're tapering off. Yeah, I'll be ready to go (smiling).

Q. Having consistently been the No. 1 Australian male for a while, how do you handle the pressure and spotlight that comes from playing a Grand Slam at home?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, I've been in this position for a while now. Over the years, of course there's a little bit maybe more chatter or more hype behind me. It hasn't really changed what I need to do as a tennis player, right?

My job is to walk on court and do my best to win tennis matches essentially. I still have the same prep. Nothing really changes. There's always going to be a lot of outside noise, but I'm very fortunate that I have a great team around me that we can kind of focus on our own little bubble. We've got kind of this, yeah, tunnel vision going into these types of tournaments, slams.

I'm going to do my best to hopefully play a lot of matches here, win a lot of matches, yeah, do Australia proud.

Q. I'm curious about your foundation. At what age or what time in your life did you start thinking about setting something up to provide for the next generation of players? Was that something you ever benefited from yourself? Curious about when that came to mind.

ALEX de MINAUR: Honestly, this is one of the most exciting things that I've done in my career. It's been something that's been in the works for a while.

It was just about finding a way of how, right? I knew I wanted to help out the next generation. It was just finding exactly how we were going to be able to set this up to help these young kids transition and help them on their pathway towards being a tennis player.

I was so fortunate to learn so much from so many incredible tennis players in my past, through Davis Cup, through numerous experiences of dealing with some of the Australian greats.

For me, as much as there's a whole financial side to it, to support these kids, support them financially in this trip to Europe, but for me, the most important aspect of it is the mentorship, the tips and advice I can give behind the scenes, behind the cameras. Really get to know these six amazing kids and kind of teach them, I guess, all the things I've learned along the way growing up, all the mistakes I've made so hopefully they don't make the same ones, and just be there for them all year round.

It's something I'm extremely excited about. It's going to be the start of something hopefully quite big.

Q. Chatting to Alexei before. I asked him whether he thinks he can win the tournament. He played it coy, saying just taking it one match at a time. He did say you might be able to win the tournament. What do you think?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, over the last couple years, I feel like I've become a better version of myself. Every time I come here to the Australian Open, I feel like I'm a better version of what I was the year before. I've learnt so much. I'm playing with a lot more confidence. I'm doing all the right things.

Look, anything can happen, right? It is tennis at the end of the day. If it was strictly based on rankings, it would be quite a boring sport? But anything can happen at this stage. We've seen opportunities arise, lots of doors opening up.

It is a long tournament. It starts with the first round. So ultimately for me it's always about having that tunnel vision, focusing on first-round opponent, which is a tough one, then do what I can.

There's always a chance. Every time you step out for a tournament, you always got to think that there's a chance.

Q. Australian tennis looks in good shape. What do you think of the young women coming through, that side of things?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I think they've got a great crop of girls coming through, right? We've seen what Emerson Jones has been able to do in Adelaide. Maya Joint in Hobart. I think, yeah, the kind of next generation is definitely popping through. It's great to see.

On the men's side, we've got a great crop of guys as well that have been doing so well. You see the younger guys pushing through. We've got that strength in numbers ultimately. As a slam nation, we've got close to 10 people in the top 100. That's incredible to see 'cause Australia's got such a rich history and culture in this sport.

I feel like we're a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully we can show that in Davis Cup, as well.

Q. Obviously you've been playing at your home slam for about seven or eight years now. What has been your favorite moment in that time playing here?

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, the debut. That's always the first kind of moment that you step out on court, playing on Show Court 3, my first-ever slam against Gerald Melzer, and somehow finding a way to win that match in five sets, that was a pretty epic feeling that I'll never forget.

Then if I had to say something else, probably, look, I was able to play Rafa on RLA. That was pretty cool. I've played Novak on RLA. That wasn't so much fun, sadly (smiling).

If not, it's probably the first time playing prime time on RLA. 'Cause that's something as a kid you watch way too often, and you always want to be a part of those types of matches. Making in the tournament for starters, but then to be playing in that prime time slot, that's pretty special.