Alex De Minaur started day two of the Australian Open with a well-earned loll about at a local beach. It was part of a media opportunity involving the South Melbourne lifesaving club and having caught a glimpse of the 17-year-old’s rosy cheeks and pipecleaner limbs, you could understand if they were keeping a concerned eye on him.
De Minaur’s best moments in the spotlight so far have been the more spontaneous ones. On Monday, having dispatched tour veteran Gerald Melzer in five gruelling sets, the talented youngster shyly nodded and bobbed his head along to a series of questions trying to explain exactly who he was and where he had come from to take the first day of the tournament by surprise.
The most arresting sight came when he had dealt with the first round of questions and then switched to his parents’ native tongue to answer the inquiries of the Spanish-speaking press. It turned out his endearing, red-faced rookie awkwardness remained no matter the language and, for the record, he could have done the same in French if asked.
As an uncynical counterpoint to the sly mumblings of Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios’ world-weary combativeness, it was an innocent and affirming start to a tournament thick with egos and forever humming with the background noise of corporate cynicism.
After his 5-7, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 win over Melzer, which stretched across a taxing three hours and 42 minutes in sticky, leg-cramping heat, the young Australian said that on a practical level, he hoped his second round match – against the big-hitting American, Sam Querry – would also take place on Show Court 3, his lucky charm. But Australia’s mini-sensation of this tournament won’t be playing on outside courts for long.
Equally, if De Minaur wasn’t already on the radar of the IMGs of the world, he will be now. Had you internet searched his name on Tuesday morning you were already confronted with headlines like: “Alex De Minaur: the future of Australian tennis?” and “How sleepover at the Hewitts’ helped Alex De Minaur”, which was a significant change from those which predominated the day prior. Sample: “Who is Alex De Minaur?”
He is, in brief, the Sydney-born son of Spanish and Uruguayan parents, and though he has lived since he was five years old in Alicante, remains firmly committed to playing his tennis for Australia. His rise here is, unsurprisingly, also making a few waves back in Spain, and half a dozen travelling journalists from the country requested radio interviews immediately following his round one victory. His responses were polite and considered.
Some patience might be needed. At 180cm De Minaur and his country should probably pray for one last growth and there’s plenty of muscle still to be added to his spindly frame. He favours hard courts and grass, and reached the junior singles final at Wimbledon in 2016. De Minaur lists Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt as his heroes and has received plenty of backing from the latter, but here’s one to make you feel as ancient as Harry Hopman and wooden rackets: he was two years old when Hewitt won his last grand slam title.
On Wednesday in Melbourne De Minaur will face world No31 Querry and his thumping first serve, with a potential date with Andy Murray after that. In lieu of live TV coverage of their son back in Spain, Mr and Mrs De Minaur will continue to make do with live score updates on the internet. “Definitely the happiest moment of my life,” was how De Minaur put his round one win. Depending on his recovery from a taxing first triumph in Melbourne, it might soon have challengers.
