Alex de Minaur just carved out the most impressive Australian summer of tennis of his career yet, but that hasn’t altered the Sydneysider’s goals for the remainder of the 2022 season.
De Minaur fell to Italian world No.10 Jannik Sinner in the fourth round of the Australian Open, exiting the Melbourne Park major in a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-4 defeat at Rod Laver Arena.
But the 22-year-old hadn’t ever progressed to the final 16 of an Australian Open before this year’s tournament; a goal the world No.42 met in a 6-4 6-4 6-2 win over Spanish world No.83 Pablo Andujar.
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When de Minaur was asked in his press conference after the loss to Sinner if his breakthrough campaign had seen his “goals for this year change”, he gave a defiant answer.
“No, because I knew I had this in me,” de Minaur said.
“You know, I knew I’d put in the work to really come out here and perform. So the goals kind of stay the same. I still want to keep improving, keep striving to get the most out of myself. That’s never going to change.
“That’s just the person I am, and in a way it’s how I’ve gotten to where I have gotten, just by constantly pushing myself.
“So we’ll reflect on what I did well, what I can still improve, and we go again until the next tournament.”
De Minaur revealed that February’s Rotterdam Open was likely to be his next tournament.
“It’s a long year, the Aussie tennis year. We start first of Jan. and there’s a good chance we will be going on until late November, even maybe early December,” de Minaur said.
“It’s a long year, but my hopes and goals are to keep at least my attitude and my mindset throughout the whole year, or try to.
“It’s easier said than done, but that’s the focus.”
De Minaur beat Lorenzo Musetti, Kamil Majchrzak and Andujar in the first three rounds of the Australian Open.
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