MUBADALA DC OPEN

July 29, 2026

Alex De Minaur

Press Conference

A. De MINAUR/S. Tsitsipas

6-4, 3-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: You won here in D.C. last year. How does it feel being back on the court?

ALEX de MINAUR: It feels great. Great to kind of get started. As I said before the tournament, I didn't have too much expectations coming in here. It was a quick turnaround for me.

So I'm proud of myself to get through a tricky match and just, yeah, looking forward to what's next.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. How ready were you to play yesterday late afternoon through a practice and everything before the storms rolled in, and then you got bumped here to today?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I mean, look, I think it's probably one of the perks of having played here frequently that I know that sometimes there's a little bit of rain here in Washington, so I was pretty chilled. I was ready to play.

Obviously Shelton and Damm were pretty close to being done, so I had done my warmup and everything. Then all of a sudden, there was thunder, so we all went in. Then all of a sudden it felt like everything was coming down.

But it was good to kind of reset. As soon as we got called off, I thought they did a good job of doing it quite early. They called us off. We could go home, have a nice dinner, come back tomorrow -- or today. Yeah, did what I needed to do.

Q. There's been a lot of discussion with the tournament shrinking from 48 to 32 this year, and obviously your match with Stefanos being one of the biggest ones of the first round. Just wanted to get your thoughts on that collectively and what that experience was like facing him in round 1?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, I think for the tournament, for the spectators, for the viewers, it's obviously better, right, because you're going to get stacked draws. You're going to get potential first-round clashes that are brutal. So I think it's a good thing, right? I think it helps everyone on board.

Obviously for me to make sure that I was ready from the get-go and manage to kind of get through a very tough match, and hopefully I can build that confidence into the next match.

Q. If I remember correctly, last year you were talking about US Open mixed doubles. You tried on get in, but couldn't get a wild card or something like that. What's your plans for that this year? Are you trying to get in again? Did you talk to anyone specifically to try to make that happen?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, we've entered. We've entered. I don't think we'll get in on our rankings, on my rankings, so we'll probably have to rely on a wild card. We're hoping that, you know, maybe this year we get a run and we can play as a married couple.

Q. Do you know who you're playing next by any chance?

ALEX de MINAUR: I do, yes (smiling).

Q. I was wondering, what is it like? You're going to be playing Cruz Hewitt, who you practice with. I'm sure is someone who maybe see you as a mentor, comes to you with things. What is that like going to be for you preparing for that match or coming into it?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I think it's obviously -- it's going to be a weird situation, right? There's no denying that.

I've seen Cruz grow up for the last ten years. I've seen him become the man that he is right now. I've hit with him countless of times.

We both came here early before the tournament. The first few days we hit with each other. So it's going to be a pretty cool feeling I think to be able to play him. I'm excited for it. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Yeah, you know, he's earned his way to where he is right now. He's been playing some incredible tennis and "big boy" tennis. I'm going to have to be ready and hopefully make his life, you know, as difficult as I can make it.

Q. What is it like to go from sort of the downtime that you were having at the end of Wimbledon and then show up here and sort of be a No. 1 seed and defending champion and sort of be the man again? What is that adjustment like?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, let's just say when I arrived here on Monday, the body felt about 60 years old. I had a couple of hits on these courts. It was rough.

So it was definitely a shock to the system having had an extended -- I say extended, but it's probably the longest time I've spent without touching a racket, which ended up being 13 days, right, which is pretty crazy.

I came back, and it was all about, you know, building back up and getting the body used to it, getting the reps, getting my eye in. That's what I said at the start of the tournament. I didn't really have too many high expectations.

I knew that it was a quick turnaround from obviously Wimbledon, the wedding, and all of that, but I'm proud with the way I show up. I try to compete. I try to do my best. I thought today was a very good mental effort. I was very calm throughout.

Yeah, now it's all about building, and I'm hoping that I'm going to be able to constantly build throughout this whole American hard-court swing and obviously play some of my best tennis in New York.

Q. If you have success, do you think you might make a habit of taking 13 days off? But is there an argument, seriously, for more rest?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, I think everyone wants more rest, right? I would be the first one to probably take more rest, but at the end of the day, we are in a sport that I do feel like success dictates rest, right?

Someone like Jannik can take prolonged periods of rest, because every tournament he plays, he's winning it, right? It's a little bit harder to take rest if you go out early in a tournament or you don't go deep.

So I think, at the end of the day, the way this tennis works, the way the schedule works is if you go deep, if you win tournaments, if you have success, then more often than not, you're going to have the ability to take some time off, right, and maybe skip a couple of tournaments, maybe mentally refresh.

The worst part is probably losing early week after week, because you don't feel like you can take time off because you don't feel like you've deserved it. Basically you're getting back on the horse, back to work to make sure you get out of the hole. So it's a little bit of a cycle.

So, yeah, I would say if I get more and more success, I win more and more matches, then I'll definitely be enjoying some more time off.

Q. Back to talking about approximate your next opponent, Cruz. You obviously said you just hit with him earlier in the week, earlier in the tournament. Can you speak to how he plays as a player and maybe some things that you expect from him and his game in your next match against him?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I think Cruz is a very talented ball striker. He has big shots from both sides, both forehand and backhand. Looks to dictate a lot. Has a very good serve for his age.

I think it's a funny kind of contrast to how the dad used to play, right? That's always kind of an inside joke that they play quite differently. Cruz, he's got the ability to kind of take the racket out of your hands. He's very comfortable going after the ball and having big swings at it.

I think, yeah, ultimately the goal is to not let him kind of dictate, right? I've got to do my best to try to keep making it uncomfortable for him, and I know he's going to be playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of energy. I've just got to be ready to do my bit to kind of try to weather the storm.

Q. I wanted to ask about Cruz and just you've been around him for a long time. I'm curious if you can sort of talk about what it was like seeing him from a third-party perspective growing up as Lleyton's son and in that shadow and the expectations that have been on him once he started playing tennis himself and positive in terms of hope and also more sort of scrutiny, let's say people criticizing some of the wild cards he got? If you can sort of talk about what you've seen as someone who has known him as a person for a while.

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I think that there's got to be a lot of respect shown to him, because it's definitely not easy being an ex-No. 1 in the world's son, right?

Ever since he started, he picked up the racket, ever since he was playing junior tournaments, the expectation, the eyeballs, the spotlight was already on him, right? It's not easy when there is that kind of weight behind your surname.

I think what he's done an incredible job of is maturing and really getting a good head on his shoulders and coming into his own, becoming his own player, and really dealing with the spotlight and the expectations really, really well, and ultimately coming out and having these results on his own and kind of showing that he deserves to be where he is.

I think, you know, a lot of respect should be given to him for how he's handled what would have been a difficult upbringing for anyone in that position. I think he's a great kid. He's been doing great, and I think Lleyton has done an incredible job as his father and, you know, helping him out whenever he can.

They've created a great atmosphere, and that's led to him being a very good tennis player.

Q. When you are playing someone who you know so well as both a person and a player, I know you haven't played Cruz professionally, but having hit with him so many times, is it hard going into the match to not overanalyze or overthink and maybe think he knows me so well, I may need to mix things up a little bit? What is your mental approach from that sense?

ALEX de MINAUR: Honestly, I don't know. It's a first for me, too. I'm going to probably have some better answers after the match.

Look, I'm going to do my best to take it like any other practice session we've had, any other kind of match I've played, and try to focus on my side of the net. I know at the end of the day, it is a second-round match here at Washington, and that's what I'm going to be thinking of.

It's going to be a pretty cool experience, a pretty cool moment sharing the court with him. I'm sure it will be the first of many, but as it stands right now, it's a second-round match here in Washington.

Q. You're in a bit of a unique spot. You're older than Cruz and younger than Lleyton, and you would have started your career as Lleyton was winding down his. I'm wondering the impact or influence he may have had on your career as you were coming up? I know you played doubles and Davis Cup, et cetera? How would you describe where his impact might be felt throughout your career?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, he's had a very big impact on my career from probably around 16, 17 when I was kind of playing juniors and doing all right in the slams to being brought into Davis Cup as an "orange boy" for the first time. Then the faith and the belief he's had in me ever since has definitely been a huge part of where I am right now.

I've hit with Cruz since basically I reckon for the last, I don't know, three, four years almost at every slam, right? He's out there, and we always hit with each other. It's great to see him grow and develop and year after year becoming more of a man obviously and having this really good game and growing into his own body.

Now he's out here beating, you know, some very high-quality players. I'm ready for the challenge and ready for the battle, and it should be a fun one.