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Alex de Minaur at the 2019 Australian Open
ATP Tennis Players, Tennis News, Tennis Players

ONES TO WATCH: Alex de Minaur – Can the exciting Australian crack the top ten in 2020?


In the latest of a mini-series detailing the players with something to prove in 2020, Toby Oliver profiles Australian number one Aex De Minaur.

Alex de Minaur has had a frustrating start to 2020. The young Australian was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open after he suffered an abdominal injury.

It was after a highly impressive showing at the ATP Cup, where De Minaur had two great wins over Alexander Zverev and Denis Shapovalov followed by two tight losses to Dan Evans and Rafael Nadal.

Despite his latest injury, the 20-year-old had an outstanding 2019 in which he won a huge number of matches which saw him reach a career high ranking of 18 in the world. He won three titles on the ATP Tour last year as he climbed up the rankings.

At the start of 2019, he won in Sydney, which was his first ATP title win. He beat Andreas Seppi in the final in a tournament where he didn’t drop a set.

Later in the year, he won in Atlanta, beating Taylor Fritz to the title. Following the US Open, where he reached the fourth round, he won another tournament, this time in Zhuhai.

he Australian beat fomer world number one and three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray in the second round in a close, three set match. He then beat the talented Croatian Borna Coric in the quarter-final before thrashing Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2 6-2 in the semi-final. De Minaur won his third ATP Tour title with an impressive straight sets win over Adrian Mannarino.

It was then when De Minaur gained his career high ranking of 18 after reaching the final in Basel, losing to Roger Federer who won his tenth home title. His ranking meant he was the top seed at the Next Gen ATP Finals. Despite winning all of his group games, he lost in the final to home favourite Jannik Sinner, his second loss in the final in two years.

Once De Minaur has fully recovered from his latest injury, you imagine the target will be to break the top ten by the end of the year, and there is every indication that he is capable of doing just that.


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.