Now an ATP Masters 1000 finalist at a career-high ranking, Alex de Minaur is searching for more improvements as he closes in on the world’s top 10.
Toronto, Canada, 15 August 2023 | Matt Trollope
Alex de Minaur has declared he is feeling confident while at the same time embracing the challenge of continually working to improve his game.
The 24-year-old-Aussie has produced consistently impressive results in 2023, especially in the build-up to the US Open, where he is now 10-3 on North American hard courts this summer.
De Minaur’s latest performance was a career breakthrough; he advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 final in Toronto, beating consecutive top-10 players – Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev – along the way.
> RELATED: De Minaur upsets Medvedev to reach Toronto semis
The result pushed him up to a career-best ranking of world No.12, making him the highest-ranked Australian man in singles in 17 years.
“I think overall, looking at the results, I’m pretty happy with where my level is at and how I’m continuously chipping away towards my goals,” said De Minaur following his 6-4 6-1 loss to Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s Toronto final.
“Step by step, I feel like I’m getting better. I’m showing my level against top opponents, day in and day out. And this week was a great week for me. I’m feeling confident.
“I’m ranked 12, and I’ve still got plenty and plenty of areas to improve on. So it’s exciting for me.”
Thank you Toronto ❤️ Step by step 📈🥈 pic.twitter.com/5NH08grNLf
— alex de minaur (@alexdeminaur) August 14, 2023
Mindset has been key for De Minaur in facilitating these breakthroughs, and ensuring he can maintain that “day in day out” level.
A finalist the week prior to Toronto in Los Cabos, he did not let a straight-sets loss in that decider to Stefanos Tsitsipas derail him. Instead, he set about improving on his record of reaching the last 16 at 10 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments without going further.
There was also motivation to “prove a lot of the people wrong”, as he put it after beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets in the Toronto semifinals.
“I take a lot of pride in what I do,” De Minaur said. “And a lot of people don’t have a lot of belief in me, but I get a real sense of satisfaction proving people wrong.”
Asked to elaborate on that thought after the final, he was…
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