Alex de Minaur went from one of the darkest places in his career to one of the best, but his ATP Finals has now finally come to a close.
With the way in which his group unfolded, the Australian would have been forgiven for writing off his chances of reaching the semi-finals.
However, with a miraculous win over Taylor Fritz, just days after the crushing low that came after he somehow lost to Lorenzo Musetti, he gave himself a chance.
Then, a routine win for Carlos Alcaraz secured Alex de Minaur’s spot alongside Jannik Sinner in the semi-final, completing the most unlikely of comebacks.
What would then unfold in the following match marked an unsurprising outcome, as the former world number one dug deep to win a tight first set before running away with the result. De Minaur has since spoken about just how tough he finds it to play against the Italian.
Alex de Minaur says if he thinks he will ever beat Jannik Sinner
With yesterday’s win, Sinner has now extended his winning run over the 26-year-old to 13 matches.
What makes their ATP Finals result even tougher to take was how well De Minaur played in that first set, with many claiming it was the best tennis they had ever seen him play.
And yet, it was still Sinner who came out victorious, breaking at the eleventh hour to take it 7-5.
Speaking to the press after the match, one reporter was keen to gauge De Minaur’s feelings after playing his ‘top level possible’ and it still not being enough.
He replied: “Uhm (smiling)… That’s a tough question to ask someone because it kind of sounds like my best is not good enough in your eyes. I have won sets against Jannik in the past.
“Look, I’m going to say that, yeah, there was a lot of good stuff in that first set. I think one of the key elements was I dropped my percentage of first serve in the crucial stages, which allowed him to jump on top of me in that 5-All game. He came up with some pretty good shots, as well.
| Year | Event | Round | Winner | Scoreline |
| 2025 | ATP Finals | Semi-final | Jannik Sinner | 7-5, 6-2 |
| 2025 | Vienna | Semi-final | Jannik Sinner | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 2025 | Beijing | Semi-final | Jannik Sinner | 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 |
| 2025 | Australian Open | Quarter-final | Jannik Sinner | 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 |
| 2024 | Davis Cup finals | Semi-final | Jannik Sinner | 6-3, 6-4 |
“Look, I played him many, many times. Even though a lot of people may not think so, I know how to beat him. It’s just not that easy to do, right (smiling)? You’ve got to hit the ball very hard, very flat, very deep and very close to the lines. It is something that I try to do, but it’s obviously not the easiest thing to do.
“I do think for me to have genuine chances, I need to serve well throughout the whole match. My serve dropped a little bit and could have been better.”
Alex de Minaur clearly knows how to compete with Jannik Sinner
It’s a testament to his performance that Sinner admitted he struggled against De Minaur after his straight-sets victory.
However, that would be a fair assessment, as it really felt like that first set could have gone either way.
De Minaur was a constant threat in his return games, and served impeccably until he was eventually broken; he even saw three consecutive break points come and go in the very first game of the set.
He obviously knows what it takes to unsettle Sinner, but executing it across an entire match is clearly not easy.
The 13-0 head-to-head makes for tough reading, but De Minaur is far more competitive than that may suggest. In the coming years, he’s sure to snag that first win, and when he does, it could prove to be the catalyst that turns him into a genuine contender for these elite titles.
