Alex de Minaur

Alex De Minaur’s first major scalp as a tennis prodigy was when he won the Australian under 14s championship at Melbourne Park in December 2013 and the under 16s Australian championship the following year.

Alex embarked on his professional journey in July 2015, stepping onto the court at the Spain F22 and advancing to the quarter-finals. The following year, he received a wildcard entry into the qualifying rounds of the 2016 Australian Open. However, his debut in the event was cut short as he suffered a first-round defeat to Kimmer Coppejans in straight sets 6-3 6-3.

Alex made his Grand Slam debut in 2017 at the Australian Open and impressed the home crowd as he managed to make it through the first round in five sets, before he was met with 31st seed Sam Querrey, where he lost 7-6 6-0 6-1.

Alex won the Australian Open play-off in December 2017 to earn a wildcard at the 2018 Australian Open. There he faced 19th seed Tomáš Berdych in the first round and went down 6-3 3-6 6-0 6-1.

At the Washington Open in 2018, Alex triumphed over Vasek Pospisil, 11th seed Steve Johnson and eighth seed Chung Hyeon. Alex received a walkover against Andy Murray, propelling him to the semi-finals against Andrey Rublev. There, Alex displayed remarkable resilience, saving four match points to go on and win the match. Alex fell at the final hurdle against Alexander Zverev, ultimately falling 4-6, 2 6.

This impressive run saw Alex break into the top 50 world rankings for the first time, reaching world number 45 on August 6, 2018. Alex became Australia’s no.1 male player just two months later when he rose to a career-high ranking of 33.

Alex made his first grand slam singles quarter-final at the US Open in 2020, beating world no.11 at the time Karen Khachanov and former world top-10 player Richard Gasquet, before he was beaten by eventual champion Dominic Thiem 6-1 6-2 6-4.

Alex won his first ATP-level grass-court title at Eastbourne in June 2021, propelling him into the world’s top 15 for the first time. Shortly after this feat, Alex qualified for the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 before he was forced to pull out due to testing positive for COVID-19, much to the Australian’s disappointment.

2022 saw Alex play a starring role in helping Australia reach the 2022 Davis Cup final before going down to Canada. The year saw Alex make the fourth round of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, making it the third time in his career he had reached such a feat.

To start 2024 Alex claimed three top-10 scalps representing Australia at the United Cup. Alex beat world no.10 Taylor Fritz, world no.7 Alexander Zverev and world no.1 Novak Djokovic. Following this Alex entered the top-10 rankings in January 2024, becoming the first Australian man to hold a top-10 ranking in 17 years.

The Australian competed in the Australian Open shortly after these impressive victories. Alex made the fourth round before falling to world no.5 Andrey Rublev in a five-set match 6-4 7-6 7-6 6-3 6-0. Alex’s world ranking has seen him automatically qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris as the top seed for Australia.

The 25-year-old rose to a career-high world ranking of world no.7, just one more before the Paris Olympics, when he lifted his ninth ATP singles trophy in s-Hertogenbosch. It was also the first time he was the top seed at an international event.