17-year-old Alex de Minaur has made headlines on the opening day at the Australian Open. Making his debut in the main draw of a grand slam tournament, the teenager stunned Austria’s Gerald Melzer 5-7, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, saving a match point on route. The win comes only two weeks after he made his ATP Tour debut in Brisbane, where he stunned Benoit Paire in the first round.
De Minaur is the first 17-year-old to win a grand slam match on the men’s tour since Borna Coric at the 2014 US Open. Tipped by many in his home country as the next big things in the men’s game, here are five things to know about the rising star.
Comes from a multi-national background
De Minaur was born in Sydney on February 17th 1999. His mother comes from Spain and father comes from Uruguay. He lived in Alicante, Spain until the age of five before he moved to Australia, where he was mentored by the national tennis body. Due to his international routes, de Minaur can speak English, Spanish and French.
Had a successful junior career
In February 2016, the Australian peaked at a high of 2nd in the world on the junior tour. Achieving good performances in both singles and doubles, De Minaur is the current Australian Open boys’ doubles champion and reached the final in the singles category at Wimbledon. His combined win-loss record on the junior circuit is 178 – 97 according to figures provided by the ITF.
Reached his first Challenger final in 2016
De Minaur’s first senior breakthrough occurred last November in Germany at the Bauer Watertechnology Cup, a Challenger event. After coming through qualifying, he knocked out Kenny de Schepper, Jurgen Melzer and Franko Skugor in the main draw on his way to the final. He was denied his first Challenger title by Belgium’s Steve Darcis.
Currently he has only won one senior trophy – a doubles title from a Futures tournament in Spain.
Has a close bond with Lleyton Hewitt
Seven-time grand slam doubles champion John Fitzgerald describes Minaur as “a young Lleyton Hewitt’. It is an association that will delight the teenager.
In recent years de Minaur has been cheered on and mentored by Hewitt. Leading up to this year’s Australian Open, the youngster has been residing in Hewitt’s house.
“It was great to just have that inside advice all the time and get his thoughts on everything,” De Minaur told Fairfax Media.
“It was a great preparation for the Australian Open. A very tough pre-season and I couldn’t be happier. I stayed with him in Sydney and also at his place in Melbourne. At the French Open last year in the juniors, he came out and we had a nice chat and told me that he would be very supportive of everything I needed.
“It’s been unbelievable the amount of stuff he’s done for me. I couldn’t be more grateful. I spent time with his family and we went out with the family for dinner together … it was nice.”
Hewitt was also 17 when he won his first grand slam match.
Nicknamed ‘Demon’ by fellow teammates
During his time as an orange boy (hitting partner) during Australia’s Davis Cup tie against Slovakia, De Minaur earnt the nickname ‘Demon’. It was given to him be teammates Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
