MUBADALA CITI DC OPEN

July 23, 2025

Alex De Minaur

Quick Quotes

A. de MINAUR/B. Yunchaokete

7-6, 6-2

Q. Alex, how are you feeling, starting out on hard courts?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I feel good. Obviously it's quite hot and humid, so probably one of the biggest things is getting used to those conditions. I think this week it's a very quick surface, as well. So that's something that's, you know, it's playing quite quick and fast.

I'm happy with the way I battled today. It was a tough one and a dangerous one. Looking forward to the next one.

Q. Do you sort of break down the parts of the year, how you have done on clay, grass, hard-court swing, just you've got to keep fronting up in terms of setting goals and trying to get through this period?

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, probably the only different kind of mentality that I have now is that, you know, because of last year, my injury, I wasn't able to show up to three of the Masters, giving me three zeros on my ranking.

So I knew that the first part of the year I was going to have to just, you know, fight to put myself in a good position to hopefully in the back end of the year I have a big opportunity, right? I've got the chance to hopefully gain a lot of points, and that's the plan.

Q. You were talking about burnout at the French Open. Couple months since then, but obviously you're still playing a lot in between. How are you feeling mentally in terms of a refresh, or is that hard to assess midseason?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I think it's quite tough to achieve midseason. After Wimbledon I had a little bit of time off with Katie, which is what we kind of do every single year. It's kind of our midway through the season where we get a little time off.

But it's more about I'm learning, and I'm trying to deal with everything a little bit better. So with a little bit of help on the outside, just, yeah, just managing my way through weeks on, weeks off, and trying to, you know, show up but at the same time not have it take so much out of me mentally.

Q. "Help on the outside," what's that mean?

ALEX de MINAUR: Just talking to some people and just trying to have a different set of mindsets, different set of goals, not put that that much pressure on myself, and just kind of go back to basics a little bit.

It's not easy. Tennis players, we're competitive human beings. Every time we step out on court, whether it's practice or a match, we want to win.

But for me, it's just learning how to deal with that a little bit better so, yeah, it takes less of a toll on me mentally.

Q. Any things that you started to do that help kind of break it up for you a little bit? Like when you have a day off, are you doing something outside of the tennis tournament that helps?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I think it is difficult, because there's no real days off, right? The only time you have off is if you lose early at a tournament until the next tournament. That's the only real time.

For me, it's more about the focus on every time I go into a practice session, every time I come into the courts, I play a match. In the past, maybe I'd almost live and die by every single practice session, right?

For me, it was just so important to show up every single day, which ended up taking a toll, but also, when I'm not at the courts, there is a big focus on switching off. That, for me, has always been trying to find nice places to have dinner, some coffee places, go wander around the city. Just do those types of things that makes me feel like a normal human, and I can kind of switch off from being a tennis player.

Q. You have Lehecka next, and he got you pretty good at Queen's Club. What's your assessment of that match, and how do you plan on turning the tide here?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, it wasn't really a match in Queen's. He was too good. He played at a very high level. He's a very dangerous player that when he gets on the front foot and has his day, it's pretty tough to beat him.

The way I see it is I'm hopefully going to come for my revenge, right? I feel like I'm in a good spot mentally. It's by no means going to be an easy match, because again, in these conditions, if you serve well, it's very tough to play against. The goal is to come out there, compete, and hopefully get my revenge.

Q. You and Katie, regarding the entry list for the US Open mixed, you're probably in the range where you need a wildcard. How do you make your case to the USTA? Why would you be worthy of one of these coveted spots?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I mean, we'd be definitely asking for a wildcard, and we're definitely hoping for a wildcard. I think, you know, yeah, why not give a little bit of love to a tennis couple?

You know, we have been going strong, it's been what, five years already, getting married next year. I think we're showing that there is good chemistry between us.

I think some of the other partnerships, they haven't really said a word to each other in their lives, right? At least we kind of know each other, so we can hopefully show some good chemistry and hopefully play some good matches there (smiling).

Q. Line calling, I don't know if you saw what Cilic said at Wimbledon, he felt sad that all these people who love tennis had lost their jobs, the linespeople. What do you think about that balance?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, it is quite difficult obviously. The automated live system has taken away some jobs from the tennis world.

As a player, I am a lot more calm and relaxed when I'm playing with Hawk-Eye, because I don't have to worry about potentially having to stop the point mid-rally, right?

I feel like there is too many times in big moments, big matches, where there is a close ball, and before you think about, you know, do I stop the point, if I stop the point, I'm going to lose it, or was it in, was it out, at least this way we just play until the out call.

So it makes it, for the players at least, a lot easier to play and there is no discussions. There is no challenging. It's just the way it is. The machine calls it in or out, and that's ultimately, at least for me, I prefer playing under those, yeah, under the new system.