Alex de Minaur ended another very consistent season, in which he qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin proving to be too often underestimated. He reached the semifinals in the last tournament of the season and put in a strong performance against former world No.1 Jannik Sinner at the Inalpi Arena, but had to surrender against an opponent unbeatable for him once again.
In recent years, the Australian ace has done everything he can to add new elements to his game and become more fearsome for top players. Despite the improvements made, the persistent feeling is that he is missing something to be able to really compete to win the most important titles.
Rusedski on de Minaur’s game
One of the aspects Alex can certainly work on is the serve, which does not allow him to get enough quick points against rivals like Jannik Sinner and Carlitos Alcaraz. The two current leaders of men's tennis have created a huge gap compared to the competition and have no intention of stopping their run, having won the last eight Grand Slam titles and having also faced each other in the last act of the ATP Finals.
During the first episode of his new podcast, former ATP ace Greg Rusedski analyzed de Minaur's game in detail: “I think it’s not going to be hugely technical with the forehand because it’s really hard to change that. One thing he did a few years back was to change the string in his racket. He put natural gut in the crosses to give him a bit more pop on his serve."
Greg continued: “I think technically the area he is going to work on is the serve. If you look at his serve, his elbow at times is a bit low, so his consistency is not where it needs to be. That will be the technical thing. If he gets more pop on his serve in the off-season and gets more pace as well on his groundstrokes, he is one of those guys you think maybe he can step up against Sinner and Alcaraz because physically he is just as strong as those two.”
