Alex de Minaur had a standout year in 2025. He opened the season by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open — his home Slam — for the first time and then went on to reach two ATP finals, including winning the title at the 500-level Washington Open in July.
And he’s hoping 2026 will be even better.
After taking home the lightning bolt trophy at the UTS Grand Final in December for the third time — explaining that the fast format suits his game and “brings the best tennis out of me” — De Minaur officially kicked off the new season as a member of Team Australia at the United Cup. The team event allowed him to do two of his favorite things: play in front of an Australian crowd and “represent the green and gold.” He helped lead the team to the quarterfinals and even recorded a three-set victory over the red-hot Hubert Hurkacz of eventual champion Poland.
While the first major of the year can be a mix of stress and excitement for all players, it’s even more so for Australians. The country hasn’t produced a men’s Australian Open champion since Mark Edmondson in 1976, so the hopes are largely pinned on De Minaur, the top-ranked Australian player and No. 6 seed, to reverse the drought. But he has a tough draw.
He was originally given the challenge of facing former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini in the opening round before Berrettini withdrew. He will now take on Mackenzie McDonald, a lucky loser, in the first round on Monday, and Frances Tiafoe could await in the third round. From there, it would only get harder. Alexander Bublik is a potential round-of-16 opponent and, if De Minaur makes it to the quarterfinals, he would likely have to take on Carlos Alcaraz. “It basically just means that I’m going to have to be firing from the word ‘Go,'” De Minaur said of his path.
But with all of that on his shoulders, how is De Minaur feeling as the Australian Open gets underway, and does he believe he can beat Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner when the stakes are highest?
We caught up with De Minaur last month to get those answers and more.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
ESPN: First, how was your offseason? What did you do?
Alex de Minaur: I had about a week-and-a-half off, which is a lot more than I’ve had for the last four or five years, but I didn’t really go anywhere. I just spent a little bit of time with family and friends [in Spain and his home base of Monaco] and that was about it, to be honest. It was a quick turnaround, but ultimately it’s part of the job and back to work, back to getting ready for 2026. Yeah, I mean all hands on deck.
ESPN: So you didn’t go to the Maldives, with what felt like most of the tour?
De Minaur: No, sadly I didn’t. I didn’t go to the player lounge of the Maldives.
ESPN: How long did you go without picking up a tennis racket? Did you first return to the gym?
De Minaur: Basically just the week-and-a-half. There’s just not that much more time, I’ll tell you that. It’s kind of the world we live in. It’s a quick turnaround, but again, I’m happy that I was able to take a little bit of time off to switch off and recover and get myself mentally ready to start off again.
ESPN: With the 2025 season now in the rearview, what stands out to you when you reflect on it and what are you most proud of?
De Minaur: I think it was a year of lots of ups, and a couple of downs, that I’m happy with. The way I dealt with those tougher moments and ultimately had my best year to date in terms of wins, year-end ranking, a lot of great positives to build upon and yeah, hopefully I can take my opportunities and my chances in 2026 and have an even better year.
ESPN: What’s it like to get to start the year in Australia?
De Minaur: It’s always amazing to start the year at home in front of your home crowd, so it feels quite special. That’s something that I’m always looking forward to, and especially playing in Sydney [at the United Cup]. It is not often that I get back there, so I definitely don’t take it for granted and I always try to do my best to represent the green and gold.
ESPN: How would you describe the Australian fans?
De Minaur: The Australian fans are very patriotic. They are full of energy. They get behind their players and they are the best type of fan. I feel like the only thing they expect from their players is to give it their all and they’re going to have your back from the very first point until the last. It’s amazing to feel as a player.
ESPN: It may seem kind of obvious, but how does that support help you during a tight match?
De Minaur: As I said, they’ve got your back. Ultimately what I try to do is to engage with the crowd as much as I can because they’re the ones that kind of give me the energy that I need, especially during the most tough moments. They can get me out of a hole and ultimately all I want to do is play some good tennis for them. It’s extra motivation.
ESPN: I’m sure that feeling gets multiplied at the Australian Open. What is it like to play at the tournament as the top-ranked Australian?
De Minaur: It’s ultimately one of the biggest tournaments of the year for me. I want to do well there. It’s my home Slam. I want to perform in front of my crowd and I would want nothing more than to have a really good result there. So that’s why a lot of the preparation and the hard work, it all comes down to making sure that I’m able to start the year in the best way possible and hopefully put on a good showing in Melbourne.
ESPN: Aside from the passionate home fans, what makes the Australian Open experience different for you than the other Slams?
De Minaur: I’m playing at home, right? So of course it’s a little bit more pressure and expectation. I want to do well there more than anything. I just want to do Australia proud. So it’s always a little bit more emphasis on that tournament and yeah, that’s why you want to make sure that you play well there. As a kid, there was nothing I wanted more than to be able to play in those stadiums in front of packed crowds and win a lot of matches there. So that’s ultimately the goal.
ESPN: Have you gotten used to the extra pressure and attention at the tournament? Have you found ways over the past few years to deal with that?
De Minaur: I mean I’ve been in this position for a while now, so I feel like I’ve gotten used to it and I don’t see it as added pressure or expectation. I’m just genuinely excited to be playing in Australia, so the way my mind works, instead of thinking about pressure or expectation or added nerves, I just use it as excitement. It’s always an exciting feeling going and walking onto the court in Australia, and that’s what brings out the best tennis in me.
ESPN: You made your first quarterfinals there last year. How will you define success this year?
De Minaur: Well, I’m hoping for anything better. Hopefully, but it’s tough. Ideally, I’m not measuring success in results, but I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want to go deeper this coming year. So yeah, I’ll say, I think my level is there. Hopefully I can execute when it gets to then and put myself in contention for the Slam Interview: Top-ranked Alex de Minaur, on the Australian Open.
ESPN: You mentioned dreaming of playing as a kid at the Australian Open, was there a final or a moment that helped spark that?
De Minaur: There have been plenty of iconic finals, I’ll tell you that. And plenty of iconic Lleyton [Hewitt] matches that stand out for me, when he beat [Marcos] Baghdatis at the crack of dawn [in a 2008 third-round match that ended at a record-setting 4:34 a.m.]. That was pretty epic.
And then there were some incredible Rafa [Nadal]-Novak [Djokovic] finals, Rafa-Roger finals, there are so many to choose from. But playing there too has always been the dream. As a kid watching, it was the ultimate goal to be out there playing in front of those packed stadiums and they often still are pinch-me moments. I am definitely very fortunate to be in the position that I’m in and I don’t take it for granted. And yeah, hopefully there’s going to be many, many more of those.
ESPN: What was your first pinch-me moment?
De Minaur: I think competing in Sydney in front of a packed stadium on one of the courts that I grew up practicing on [in 2017] and then being able to win the title, my first ATP title, in Sydney [in 2019] was definitely a very special moment.
ESPN: Since then you’ve been able to win nine more singles titles, but you’ve talked a lot about the challenge of facing Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in recent years, especially at the biggest tournaments. What is it like playing in this era with the two of them? [Editor’s note: De Minaur is a combined 0-18 against Alcaraz and Sinner.]
De Minaur: They’re definitely playing at a pretty high level and they have set the standard. So for us, the rest of us competitors, we are going to do our best to find a way to try and compete with them, and match with them, and ultimately make their life as difficult as we can.
ESPN: What, if anything, is different in preparing for a match against Alcaraz or Sinner? Does it change how you approach the match?
De Minaur: Ultimately it’s finding your way to beat them. You’re going to try different things. As we’ve gone forward, there’s been different types of game style and matches and matchups, so there’s been a little bit of tweaking here and there that goes when you try to play these types of guys and ultimately beat the best players in the world. So, you’ve got to do your best and try to bring out your best level because if not, you’re going to be in a whole lot of trouble.
ESPN: Do you enjoy the challenge?
De Minaur: I mean, it’s a challenge for sure. That’s ultimately what we’re trying to improve on, and as I said, I feel like I’ve got a little bit more to give in my career, so hopefully I can keep on pushing towards that, improving and ultimately breaking through against the two best players in the world. So far I haven’t been able to get that breakthrough, so the plan is to get there at some point.
ESPN: You’ve often credited your fiancee Katie Boulter [currently the No. 113-ranked player on the WTA Tour] for helping you on and off the court. How has she helped you and what is it like to have her support when you’re playing at the same tournaments?
De Minaur: It’s great to have someone there by your side who’s in the same world as you are, kind of understands the good moments, the tough moments, and everything in between, and ultimately just has your back. On the court, ultimately we’ve got two different game styles and I think we both help each other out at times. There’s a whole lot of mental perspective stuff as well, like how we each look at situations and matches and what we’re thinking in certain types of points. I do think that we’ve both been able to complement each other and almost get the most out of each other.
ESPN: Do you talk strategy with one another before matches?
De Minaur: Sometimes. It depends. We try our best to not talk too much tennis and live more of a normal life.
ESPN: Speaking of that, how is the wedding planning going?
De Minaur: It’s definitely going. It’s a whole process, obviously it’s not the easiest with both of us being tennis players, and pretty busy for most of the year. It’s a process for sure.
ESPN: How hard was it just to find a date on the calendar that worked?
De Minaur: Well, we really just didn’t have too many dates to choose from, so that helped. We have a packed schedule so it ultimately came down to when we had a second for ourselves. That’s how we made all of our decisions.
ESPN: You’ve become such an integral part of the ATP and many of the tournament’s social videos, and you were even named “Best Actor” [complete with a tiny trophy] at the ATP Finals. What do you enjoy about making those videos?
De Minaur: I like that they show my personality off the court a bit. I think people think I’m very serious because of what they see on the tennis court, but it’s a fun way for me to show how I truly am off the court. Ultimately, I’m pretty laid back, pretty relaxed, kind of a goofy guy. So it brings out that kind of side of me.
ESPN: Is there one that fans tend to reference or bring up more with you?
De Minaur: There’s some videos that people seemed to have enjoyed more than others but yeah, they seemed to have really enjoyed my work as a parking lot attendant.
We have the best staff ever 😍#TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/0OXhEzvnZ5
— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 13, 2024
