Australia will participate in the inaugural ATP Cup in 2020, receiving a wild card into the 24-country event. One of the two players who has committed to participate is #NextGenATP Australian star Alex de Minaur, who won his first ATP Tour title earlier this year at home in Sydney, where he was born.
De Minaur has reached his first tour-level quarter-final, semi-final, championship match as well as earned his maiden trophy in Australia. The 20-year-old greatly enjoys competing at home, and De Minaur spoke to ATPCup.com about his expectations for the new event, what it means to represent his country and more.
What are some of your first tennis memories from Australia?
I started hitting tennis balls when I was four years old and got signed up to a little tennis centre with three or four synthetic grass courts at the time in Carrs Park, in Sydney. That’s where it all started for me.
Do you have any memory in particular from when you first visited that centre?
I just loved going to practice. My parents originally signed me up to see how I would like it and from then on I just wanted to come back and play more and more.
You’ve spoken about watching guys like Lleyton Hewitt from your country growing up and how important that was to you. Were there any matches that stick out in your mind and why?
I remember watching a lot of matches, especially Lleyton growing up. He had a lot of epic matches and I used to stay up and watch. He had that late one at the Aussie Open against Baghdatis that finished at like 4am. It was pretty cool because then I get to ask him about how he felt the next day and all the behind the scenes stuff.
Has he told you anything that caught your attention from that match?
Yeah of course. A couple things here and there. It’s pretty funny. He told me that he went and had McDonald’s afterwards, so there’ve been some pretty funny stories.