ROLEX SHANGHAI MASTERS

October 8, 2025

Alex De Minaur

Mixed Zone

A. DE MINAUR/N. Borges

7-5, 6-2

Q. (No microphone.)

ALEX DE MINAUR: There's still lots of tennis to be played. I think I need to raise my level. I need to keep on playing the way that I am. Yeah, just do my best. Obviously there's going to be some very tough matches ahead of me, which I'm looking forward to. I'm very pleased with my performance today, and hopefully I can build on that.

Q. Can you talk about this match, how proud you are of your performance.

ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, I think the first set was a very tight set. We both were kind of trying to figure each other out. We hadn't played each other. He's quite a tricky opponent. He has a very flat backhand, great forehand, very good end-range skills.

So it was about figuring out what kind of patterns worked for me today. I was able to get a crucial break at the end of the first set and serve it out.

Then in the second set I came out firing. I played some aggressive tennis. I was able to play the style of tennis that I wanted to play. Managed to get a very good win in two sets, but still it was a very physical match out there.

Q. Another fine serving performance. You won 79 percent on your first serves, 81 on your second, and saved three break points. For the tournament only been broken once. Pretty impressive so far.

ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, I'm very happy with my serving stats. My serving, ever since I did a little bit of a tweak to it, it's been really good. From Laver Cup into Beijing into here I really like the way I've been serving. I don't feel like I have been over serving. I've been able to maintain a pretty high first-serve percentage.

I think the only time today where I lost it a little bit was the last two service games, which I struggled to make first serves. Which, again, I lost a little bit on my rhythm. Overall I think it's been helping me out a lot, and I've been suffering a lot less on my service games thanks to that.

Q. In tough conditions, you're the only quarterfinalist who is yet to drop a set. You got to be pleased about that as well.

ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, a hundred percent. I think it definitely adds up in very tough conditions like we have this week to feel fresh. To get less miles on the legs is always handy, especially when you're coming into the crunch time of these big tournaments. So every little bit counts, and I'm excited to be in the quarterfinals again.

Q. For a player of your level, once you're in the quarterfinals and you see maybe the draw is a bit open, is it popping out in your mind, like this one could be a special week?

ALEX DE MINAUR: Look, I still think on our side of the draw there's a lot of quality players. So it's still going to be a battle. There's some quality opponents. My next round match, winner of Daniil, who is back playing some incredible tennis, and Tien, who has shown how consistent he's been, making the final in Beijing, and now backing it up where he is right now. So, yeah, it's going to be battle.

Of course, you probably don't have the top, top players that have won most of the big tournaments. So, saying that, I'm still in the quarterfinals, so I've got to focus on that, and just really try not to change anything. That's the biggest thing.

Q. And about quality players, Musetti seems very poised for an important ATP Finals run. He's a match that you will look differently, or just a match as it comes?

ALEX DE MINAUR: The way I'm looking at the whole Race is I depend on myself, right? If I continue to win matches, then I'm going to give myself a good chance to qualify.

Now, honestly, I'm not really looking at the rest of who is winning, who is losing, what's it doing on the Race. If I can continue winning, then there will be less problems for me, or less things to worry about. Ultimately, I focus on my next match, and if I can win my next match that's going to help me.

Q. Just on Nuno. You hadn't played him before. You described him as being tricky. What did he throw at you? That 11th game was incredible in the first set. Once you sort of got that break, you were off in the second.

ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, he's a tricky player. He's got a very flat backhand. He looks to change directions and lean on it quite frequently. His ball stays low on the backhand side. He's got a great forehand, which is very dangerous. He runs around. End range, I think he's got some incredible talent. He's able to pull off some amazing sort of squash shots that are very tricky to kind of deal with. If you decide to come into the net, then that volley is going to be very difficult because he's able to put the ball in awkward positions.

Yeah, being the first time that I played him, I wasn't really sure what to expect, or what kind of patterns suited me and what sort of patterns suited him. So as the match went on, I was able to get a crucial break in the first set and serve it out.

Then in the second set I was able to free up a little bit more and to play a bit more aggressive kind of tennis. Today it was a little bit colder, which meant that the conditions were even slower, so that was definitely a factor today in the way the ball was coming off the strings.

There was a lot of different things that kind of went into the match today, but very happy with another very strong mental performance to kind of keep going, keep surviving, and keep putting myself in good positions.

Q. Number 50. That's got to be pretty impressive to win your 50th, and only the fourth Aussie to do it since 1980. Edmondson, Rafter and Hewitt. Talk about being in that conversation.

ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, it's great. It talks about how consistency, showing up every single week, which is something I take a lot of pride in, and, yeah, putting myself in good positions. So I feel like this could have very easily been the type of season that I could have had last year if I hadn't gotten injured. I'm even more proud of myself to be able to bounce back and kind of show that this is my level now, that I can do this week in and week out.

Yeah, as I said, it's great to get to 50, but I'm aiming for more. There's still a lot of tennis to be played, and hopefully I can finish off the year with a lot more wins.

Q. You have very strong performance this year, and now you have a very good chance to grab your first Masters title, and make it to the ATP Finals. So do you want to have more strong performance in the next matches?

ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, a hundred percent. I think now it's about going after the ball, playing kind of some free tennis, not worrying too much about where you are in the tournament.

Ultimately, you're playing good opponents. You're not going to win matches by just putting the ball on the court. You're going to have to go out and earn it and play to win. And that's what I'm going to try and do, and we'll see what happens.

Q. Many fans of Katie also in Shanghai. I wonder, how is your trip in China this year, and do you have any plans to go out or anything?

ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, Katie was able to make the trip over for a couple days. She left today to go to Osaka. But, yeah, it's been great. We've enjoyed China very much. We've been able to go out and explore and do a lot of different things. It's been great.

I've really enjoyed my time in Beijing. I was able to go and explore a little bit of the city, which I hadn't done. I still wasn't able to get to see the Great Wall, which is definitely on the bucket list.

Here in Shanghai, we went and had some great dinners, had some great coffees. We've been exploring. It's been a wonderful city, and I definitely felt some amazing support from the fans.