Todd Woodbridge and John Newcombe believe Australia’s Alex de Minaur will soon break into the world’s top 10.
Melbourne, Australia, 19 December 2023 | Leigh Rogers
Two legends of Australian tennis believe Alex de Minaur will break into the world’s top 10 in 2024.
Todd Woodbridge anticipates a big season ahead for the world No.12.
“I’m going to be watching to see if he can get that next breakthrough, whether that’s a Grand Slam semifinal, maybe even a final or a top-10 ranking,” Woodbridge said. “He’s got some key goals that he’s very close to.”
The 22-time Grand Slam champion wants to see De Minaur keep playing with the self-belief that helped him score six top-10 wins and climb to a career-high ranking of No.11 during 2023.
“Sometimes you can be so close, yet still feel so far away,” Woodbridge said.
“When you get to this top, top echelon, like he’s knocking on the door, if he’s able to breakthrough that, that will be absolutely brilliant.
“Alex’s just got to maintain what he’s been doing these past couple of months and he can achieve it.”
> READ: Australian men achieve 25-year first in year-end singles rankings
John Newcombe agrees that De Minaur could become Australia’s first top-10 singles player since Lleyton Hewitt in 2006.
“The trend that Alex is on, I think he’s going to break into the top 10. Probably not deep into the top 10, but I think he can get to around number seven or eight, which would be fantastic,” said the 26-time major champion.
Newcombe also believes that Max Purcell has the potential to continue soaring up the singles rankings in 2024.
The 25-year-old Purcell skyrocketed from outside the world’s top 200 in February to achieve a career-high ranking of No.40 in October.
“I like the way Max plays,” Newcombe said.
“I think playing Davis Cup has been very good for him. It gives you confidence to be out there in an international arena and having Lleyton (Hewitt) there on the side of the court.
“It’s great to see him branch out into singles. He’s got a game that keeps his opponents off guard, so there’s no reason why he couldn’t be up around the top 20 at the end of next year.”
Find your way to play: Visit play.tennis.com.au to get out on court and have some fun!
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Tennis.com.au – Tennis Australia…