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What Alex De Minaur does so well and what could take him to the next level
Lachlan Geleit • January 15th, 2025 12:51 pm
The nation’s top hope at the 2025 Australian Open Alex De Minaur was clinical in his first-round matchup against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp on Tuesday night.
The No. 8 seed won in straight sets at Rod Laver Arena 6-1, 7-5, 6-4, setting up a second-round matchup with USA’s Tristan Boyer on Thursday.
After entering last year’s tournament as the No. 10 seed, the 25-year-old’s trajectory is clearly trending upwards and SEN tennis expert Brett Phillips explained how the Aussie is improving and what makes him so tough to beat.
“In the course of a rally, he's just got a few more things up his sleeve than most,” Phillips said on SEN Breakfast.
“In the space of, say, a 20 or 30 shot rally, he’s always been a flat hitter but now he’s putting a bit more shape on the ball when necessary … he's getting more kick and bite where it really zips off the court.
“His backhand has always been rock solid, but he's increased the power on that forehand … he can run around and take it on the forehand … he can get over the top of the ball and he just sizzles it through the court now.
“His accuracy is something else. He doesn't make many unforced errors and in the course of a rally it's his opponent who will always overhit, and that's what happened last night.
“He's so disciplined to be so accurate, which is the trademark of Novak Djokovic's career really.”
While De Minaur is clearly a star of world tennis now having made the quarter finals in three of the four grand slams last year, Phillips thinks he can go to another level if he really unlocks his serve.
“The thing we're really trying to identify is whether that serve can get a bit more bite and kick to give him some free points,” Phillips said.
“Not necessarily the pace of the serve, but the placement of the serve. If he can hit those spots, it's just going to allow him to conserve a bit of energy in matches and get through service games quicker.
“That's becoming a trend that is certainly going in the right direction and it’ll be fascinating to follow through the year.
“But last night was a nice box tick.”
De Minaur’s clash against Boyer will most likely take place at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday’s night session.
