Professional tennis is a constantly evolving sport. New tournaments, new technologies, and even new rules all help to keep the sport current and captivating. While we love watching legends of the game like Roger, Rafa, and Serena continue to dominate long after anyone could have predicted, there’s always that lingering question about the future superstars of the game: Who’s next?
On the men’s side of the sport, there’s been such a longing for that next generation of great talent that the ATP has launched a full-on PR campaign touting the next wave of promising young players. Part of this “Next Gen” push includes a new year-end tournament featuring the top eight 21-and-under players. While it was certainly thrilling watching players like Denis Shapovalov, Andrey Rublev, and Borna Coric battle it out at the inaugural Next Gen finals in Milan last year, it almost feels like this new generation has already arrived: most have won at least one tour-level title, and their world rankings sit in a respectable range from #29 to 59. In fact, if any of these players has truly established himself, it’s South Korea’s Hyeon Chung, who not only won last year’s Next Gen championship, but also made a stunning run to the semi-finals of this year’s Australian Open.
So, if we accept that the new generation of male players is already firmly established, it begs the question: who’s next? Which young players can we look to and see the face of tennis five, 10 and even 15 years from now? There’s a wealth of young talent out there right now, and the ATP player I’m focused on is Alex de Minaur, a 19-year-old Australian who I believe has the makings of a great champion.
De Minaur, who is currently ranked #137, first caught my attention as a finalist at the 2016 Wimbledon boys’ championship. While he would lose to future NextGen star Denis Shapovalov, De Minaur’s game showed a level of diversity and maturity that’s unusual for a 17-year-old. Like so many juniors who transition to the senior tour, he spent the next year figuring out his game and seeing mixed results: the occasional inspired win over a top-100 player would be followed up by successive losses to much lower-ranked players on the Futures and Challenger circuits. But then, at the very beginning of 2018, Alex de Minaur’s game went into overdrive.
Starting in Brisbane, where he received a wildcard entry, de Minaur posted some very impressive wins over high-level players like Steve Johnson and Milos Raonic. He ultimately went down in the semi-finals, where he lost a close three-setter to Ryan Harrison. De Minaur then received a special entry into the tournament in Sydney, where he built on his success from Brisbane. He tore through the draw in Sydney, beating established top-40 players like Fernando Verdasco, Damir Dzumhur, Feliciano Lopez and Benoit Paire. De Minaur made it all the way to the final, where he lost a hard-fought three-setter to Daniil Medvedev (another one of the anointed “Next Gen” players). To see the type of tennis that fueled de Minaur's amazing runs in Brisbane and Sydney, check out this compilation of epic points from those tournaments.
Despite a first-round loss at the Australian Open to a resurgent Tomas Berdych, de Minaur bounced back to play one of the most exciting and competitive Davis Cup matches I’ve ever seen. Representing Australia in a matchup against Germany, de Minaur went head-to-head with Alexander Zverev, the #5 player in the world. Despite their vast differences in ranking and experience, the two players took the match to a fifth-set tiebreak where Zverev ultimately prevailed. If there’s such a thing as a “good loss” in tennis, this was it for Alex de Minaur, proving he could battle with the very best players in the world.
So what makes de Minaur’s game so full of potential? If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be variety. His game has an impressive balance of both defense and offense, as well as a great mix of baseline and net play. He can be both a counter-puncher and a player who dictates; a defensive baseliner and an aggressive net-rusher. This variety keeps his opponents guessing, and leaves very few weaknesses for them to exploit.
To be clear, Alex de Minaur doesn’t just have defensive skills, he has exceptional defensive skills. His ability to absorb and redirect pace, as well as his talent for running down virtually every ball reminds me of Novak Djokovic in his prime. On the offensive side, de Minaur has a very solid serve and groundstrokes that help him dictate play and hold his serve. But the most impressive part of his offensive game is his willingness to move forward and end points at the net on a regular basis. This style, which we’re seeing more of from some of today’s younger players, is such a refreshing departure from the seemingly endless baseline rallies we see in most professional matches.
Of course, there have been countless predictions over the years about which young players were destined for greatness. So often, we see these phenoms with incredible raw talent and some early successes whose ability just doesn’t translate to any type of meaningful success on the pro circuit. True champions have that rare combination of athletic talent, mental toughness, and the ability to maintain both over the life of a career. Given his obvious physical gifts and his ability to rise to the occasion in high-pressure situations, I’m optimistic that Alex de Minaur can work his way up to the greatest heights of achievement in the sport.
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