Aussie tennis star Alex de Minaur embraced his ‘honorary Brit’ status at Wimbledon in 2024, but is delighted to have the support of his home fans back down under.
De Minaur has been welcomed with open arms during his trips to SW19. Part of this comes down to his relationship with British No.1 Katie Boulter, with the pair announcing their engagement in December, but it doesn’t hurt that he’s a likeable figure on the court.
A string of impressive results in 2024 saw the 25-year-old cement his top 10 ranking. Among them was a run to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, where he may well have enjoyed effective home-field advantage against Novak Djokovic had a hip injury not intervened .
“I do feel very loved out there, I must say,” De Minaur said of his Wimbledon support. However, he’s grateful to know the locals have his back in Melbourne as well as London.
“I’m super excited to be here, back in Australia,” De Minaur said at the ASICS Tennis Summit in Melbourne. “As Aussie tennis players we travel around the world all year round and we don’t really have too much time to spend here in Australia, so whenever we come back here it’s always super special.
“But one of the most important things for me over the years is I’ve never really associated playing in Australia with more pressure. I’ve associated it as excitement and genuinely can’t wait to go out there and play in front of my home crowd.
“So as the years go by, I’ve become a better version of myself, and there’s always a lot more expectations when you set out for the first slam of the year, but more than anything I’m just excited to play in front of you guys, in front of the home crowd. I know they’ve got my back from the very first point to the last, and I’m excited to get started.”
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De Minaur is celebrating 10 years with ASICS, having first signed with the brand as – in his own words – a “very skinny” 15-year-old. He has developed into one of the quickest players on the tour – indeed, Novak Djokovic considers him the quickest of the bunch, and the footwear is a factor.
“In all honesty, movement is such a big part of my game, so I need something that I can completely trust on my feet and make sure that every single step, every single change of direction that I’m making, that I’ve got full belief in what’s on my feet,” he says. “That’s the shoe i’m wearing, the Solution Speed FF,
“That’s the one that helps me retrieve balls here and there. I’m doing my best to try and not run as much and be a little more aggressive out there on the court, because running side to side sometimes gets tiring, but it being a part of me, I’ve got to trust the material and trust the shoes on your feet.”
Those comments are backed by ASICS’ product manager Rene Zandbergen, who has worked with De Minaur, Djokovic and others to develop shoes suited to different styles of play. “If you play such a high level of tennis, the amount of risk you can take could decide the game,” Zandbergen tells Mirror Sport .
“Sometimes the differences are so small, and if you can just make that extra slide or that extra crazy jump or whatever, without having any issue with the shoes, it’s decisive. And that’s where we really have been focusing a lot.”
He recognises the value of feedback from players – both professional and recreational – rather than the process being a one-way street. “We want them to give feedback, we want them to be part of the process, and then by doing that we can get that kind of feedback and sometimes we do move to another shoe but many times by explaining and giving them a better understanding they stick with the shoe,” he adds.
“Sometimes they also have their doubts because it feels different, and what we do is we try to explain to them before they get the new shoe, because then they understand when it feels different it’s actually a good thing. For everybody, if you have something which feels different and you don’t know anything about it, you probably think ‘hmm that’s not good,’ so that’s very important as well.”
As De Minaur continues to chase results back home, he has earned praise from fiancee Boulter as her “support system”. “He kind of leads me,” the British star said. “Having him come out and support means.. everything to me.”
The tennis power couple have been there for each other on and off the court, and fans have acknowledged this with their support. Now, though, it’s time for De Minaur to look to reap the benefits of having two countries’ worth of ‘home’ support.
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