By Lance Jenkinson
A spectator in the crowd summed up the home nation’s feelings towards Alex de Minaur during his last night at Australian Open 2019: “We’re proud of you, mate”.
The words of encouragement came late in de Minaur’s defeat to Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal at Rod Laver Arena on Friday night, signalling the end of de Minaur’s singles campaign.
Amid the verbal barbs through the media this week between Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt and the first round exits of Nick Kyrgios and Sam Stosur, Australian tennis needed a shot in the arm from somewhere and it was de Minaur and some other promising youngsters who provided it.
De Minaur looks to be the best of the next generation of Australians coming through and he made incredible strides at his home grand slam.
The 19-year-old’s tournament came to an end with the straight sets 6-1 6-2 6-4 loss to Nadal, but not before he had become a household name across the nation.
De Minaur earned his appearance on Rod Laver Arena, in prime time, with the man who graces the name of the court in attendance.
He deserved the plaudits that came his way because he played his tennis the right way all summer – and he relished every minute of being in the spotlight for all the right reasons.
“My first time playing on Rod Laver and I was able to share the court with Rafa and that’s a pretty surreal experience,” de Minaur said. “It was pretty cool, it gave me goose bumps.”
De Minaur endeared himself to the Australian sporting public because of his head down approach.
The 29th seeded player barely showed a temper during his matches, played a straight bat in his press conferences and, more importantly, fought for every point.
“A the end of the day, this is me, this is what you get from me,” he said. “I just like to focus on my side of things and try to do everything the best I can. There’s a lot of things that happen off court, but at the end of the day what I really want to be is that boring guy that lets his tennis do the talking.”
De Minaur is still a raw youngster in awe of the stars on the other side of the net, but he is not overawed. Nadal was simply a class above the up and coming teenager.
The Spanish second seed dictated the flow of the match and the flow of the points – utilising his 17 years of grand slam experience.
While De Minaur was never seriously a shot of producing an upset in the match, he was never too far away from putting Nadal on the back foot with a big shot and looked comfortable engaging in a long rally with one of the premier players at extending points.
De Minaur grew in confidence the longer the match wore on.
“I’m a little bit disappointed that I wasn’t able to perform a little bit better, but that’s what Rafa does to you,” de Minaur said. “I still got better as the match went on and I fought till the end.”
The longer he was out on court with Nadal, the more tricks of the trade he would be exposed to.
In the end, de Minaur got applauded off the court and become a hero of tennis kids across the nation because of his determination and willingness to share his enjoyment of the game – a trait that some of his compatriots have not been exuding in recent times.
De Minaur is eager to keep his career on an upwards trajectory.
“Now I’ve got to go back and just get better,” he said. “I’ve got plenty of areas to work on and improve.”
