According to tennis legend Pat Rafter, the excitement surrounding Alex de Minaur is legitimate and he believes that the promising Australian player has the potential to make it to the final of the Australian Open.
The anticipation is rising as de Minaur prepares for the first major tournament of the season with recent victories against top players such as Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, and Taylor Fritz in the United Cup.
The 24-year-old has been propelled into the top 10 rankings for the first time after claiming three valuable victories. This achievement comes just in time for the upcoming Melbourne Park major, set to begin on January 14th.
Former world No 1 Rafter sat down with de Minaur last year when he was looking for ways to turn his five fourth-round and solitary quarter-final major appearances into something more.
Two-time US Open champion Rafter, who lost two Wimbledon finals and reached the final four in Melbourne once, reckons de Minaur is ready to make his own mark in majors.
Rafter expressed to AAP that during the match against Zverev, he noticed that the kid was beginning to truly understand the game.
“I defeated Zverev at his peak, and now de Minaur has reached the top 10.”
“I am surprised that we have only achieved a quarter of our goal so far.”
I expected him to perform better in the past, but I believe he will improve in upcoming semifinals and finals.
De Minaur is determined to reach these heights.
De Minaur expressed in Melbourne on Monday that it would definitely be a dream come true.
”
“I put in a lot of effort, but in the end, it all boils down to my performance and success at the major tournaments.”
It has been a personal objective of mine for a considerable time to advance to the second week of major tournaments and reach the final stages. This is precisely where I aspire to be.
“I’ve had a successful preparation and I am hoping to maintain the same level of performance when the tournament begins.”
“To not only achieve it in two-set matches, but to also sustain it for a full four or five hours, if necessary.”
De Minaur has been motivated by critics who claim he lacks the necessary skills to compete with the top players in the sport.
However, Rafter believes that de Minaur’s progress is not due to any increase in strength.
“According to Rafter, he may have simply gained a bit more patience.”
Ignore the advertisement for the newsletter.
after newsletter promotion
He is showing more confidence in himself. He is not making as many errors and is trusting himself to remain in the rallies.
Alex has attempted to take charge and strike the ball with a lot of force and momentum.
I believe he simply needed to pause and have a little more patience.
De Minaur attributes his recent success to his strong work ethic and positive attitude.
“I have made some small enhancements to my game,” de Minaur stated.
“I’ve improved my strength and have been playing with a more aggressive and varied style.”
In the end, much of it comes down to faith: having confidence in myself, having faith that I am capable of defeating these opponents, and then demonstrating it.
De Minaur is at the forefront of a group of 10 Australians ranked within the top 111 in the world, a milestone that has not been achieved since 1998 when eight Aussies, including Rafter, were ranked within the top 100.
In that particular year, Rafter, Philippoussis, Stoltenberg, Fromberg, Draper, Ilie, Woodforde, and Woodbridge were among the top 60 ranked players in the world.
Rafter expressed that they thoroughly enjoyed the experience and had a great time. They also believed the others were unaware of just how much fun they had.
“We took care of one another, motivated each other.”
Source: theguardian.com
