AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 14, 2025

Alex De Minaur

Press Conference

A. de MINAUR/B. van de Zandschulp

6-1, 7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Well done, Alex. Describe how great the atmosphere was on Rod Laver and how stressful it was to follow up and go and watch Katie on the other court.

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I mean, nights like tonight is what you dream of, going, playing prime time on RLA. It's special, man. Going out there, everyone has your back, getting you fired up. It's a great feeling to go out there, play some good tennis, and get the win.

Yeah, the second part was definitely stressful (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Obviously a great start, what you wanted, straight-sets win. What you said in the interview afterwards, your body feels as great as it has in a long time. How exciting is that at the start of an Australian Open campaign to feel that way after everything you have gone through in the second half of last year?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, the body is exactly where I wanted it to be, right where I put in countless hours over the better part of six months to get to this point and be feeling good, feeling comfortable, moving, sliding from one side to the other, and not really thinking about my hip.

So that's obviously an incredible positive. Now I've got to see how the body pulls up from this type of physical tennis, but it should be all right.

You know, we move on to the next match.

Today was a very tough match, so happy with the level.

Q. The first set obviously was over in 20 minutes or whatever. Was it sort of, I don't know, better than you could have ever hoped for, the way things got under way?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, it was an ideal start. Came out of the blocks exactly the way I wanted to, brought the intensity, energy, tactically played the right way, was solid but aggressive. Serve was firing.

I was very solid and came out of the blocks exactly the way I wanted to. Obviously I applied a lot of pressure on him. I think as the match went on, the conditions got a little bit slower and heavier, which made the match a little bit tougher, and it changed the momentum a little bit of that match.

But still, very happy to find a way, tough it out, and move on to the next.

Q. You talked a bit on court about being able to handle the expectations, because you know you have done the work and the background. Do you still feel any pressure at all as the Australian No. 1, or is it because you have done so much that you feel like whatever happens will happen and it's in your hands now?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, I mean, pressure, there is always going to be pressure. Ultimately, as I said many times before, no one is going to put more pressure on myself than myself, right?

There's always going to be outside noise, and that's always going to be in the background, but ultimately, I go in every day with a mindset and focusing on trying to bring out the best version of myself.

When it comes to playing these types of matches or playing in Australia, my sole focus is to give myself the best chance when I walk on court, right, and do everything I can.

And then we know how tennis is. Tennis, can you have some good days, you can have some bad days. Ultimately, if I have my bad day, I'm going to find till the end, compete, and I'm going to do my best.

I know that the crowd is going to have my back from the very first point to the last. Yeah, it's perspective, right? It's what way you choose to look at pressure.

Q. Your game looked really noticeably powerful out there tonight. Wondering, in terms of your training in the offseason, how much of a point of emphasis has it been to add that strength and power to your game?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, it's been a process, right, like, my whole journey, life, career, getting stronger. That's always been the goal without losing the, you know, the cardio or the fitness aspect to it.

Yeah, this year we worked even harder, right? We finished preseason, finished Davis Cup, and then some people take some holidays or some time off at the end of the year, but I wanted to get straight back to work because there is not a lot of time to work on yourself.

So for me it was very important to go with my team, look at myself, and say, Okay, these are the areas we need to improve off the court and on the court, and get to work.

You know, the motivation has never been higher.

Q. Can you tell us how aware were you during your match of what was going on in Katie's match? Were you having scores fed through to you? How aware were you of what was going on?

ALEX de MINAUR: It is tough playing the matches. Ultimately, just because there is a scoreboard that keeps alternating with different results throughout the day, and then all of a sudden you get -- you don't really want to be thinking about it, because you want to be focusing on your own match. Then all of a sudden you see the results of Katie's match.

You try not to pay too much attention and focus on yourself, but the sheer fact that it's always coming around, it makes it difficult.

So every now and again, whenever it came about, I saw what the result was.

Q. Drawing a strong contingent of other Aussies to advantages to round 2. What does it say for the state of tennis here in Australia?

ALEX de MINAUR: Man, it's great. It's so great to have so many Aussies doing well. I mean, I think something that is so important to us is the camaraderie and how we all get behind each other and we all push each other for bigger and better things.

That's one of our strongest values as a nation. I mean, there is nothing I love more than watching Aussies go out there and get wins.

You know, we saw yesterday, I think it was nine Aussies that got through, they got a win, and we had some brutal losses, you know, with Okes losing 5 in the fifth.

It just shows that we want it, we're getting better, everyone is pushing each other, and it's a great environment to be in.

Q. Next up, Tristan Boyer, Californian. His dad has had to evacuate his house due to the fires. What do you know about him and what he might be going through at the moment?

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, I just learned something new from him. Obviously it's a horrible situation right now in California. All my condolences goes to all of those affected in that area. You know, you don't want to see that anywhere, anyplace in the world.

So I'm sure he's going through a lot, but yeah, I'm sure the win today would have given him a little pep on his step and would have been a good feeling in a very tough time for him.

But as for our matchup, I'm looking forward to it. He's obviously playing with a lot of confidence, getting through quallies and now getting four matches under his belt. I'm expecting a battle, and I'm looking forward to it.