By Chris Oddo | Monday August 4, 2025
After crashing out of this year’s French Open Alex de Minaur – the seemingly indefatigable Aussie who plays tennis like the energizer bunny – cited burnout as one of the biggest contributing factors to his on court struggles.
“For the last three, four years I’ve had two days off after the Davis Cup and I’ve gone straight into preseason, straight into the new season again,” he said after falling to Alexander Bublik in five sets in the second round in Paris.
“Once you start, you don’t finish until Nov. 24. So it’s never ending. The way [the season] is structured … I had to deal with that. I’m still dealing with that right now.”
Two months later, the 26-year-old Aussie is looking recharged, even if he is at a lower ranking. That’s became De Minaur skipped out on his ‘s-Hertogenbosch title defense in order to prioritize his mental and physical health over chasing ranking points.
This week in Toronto he rides an eight-match winning streak into the quarterfinals.
“I took some time off, I didn’t play some tournaments. I knew I had to kind of shift my mindset a little bit, because what I was feeling, what I was dealing with every single day, was not sustainable, and was the reason for my burnout,” De Minaur said earlier this week.
“So, I decided not to try and defend the title in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, even though I knew it would affect my seeding at Wimbledon. And that for me was the first step, forgetting about my ranking and just worrying about myself a little bit more.”
De Minaur and many other players – from Casper Ruud to Alexander Zverev to Iga Swiatek – have expressed worry about the demands of the current tour schedule, and the smart ones are learning to take matters into their own hands.
“I managed to have a great balance,” De Minaur said. “I’ve had a lot of talks off the court to make sure I am in this right mindset. Now I’m prioritizing myself, and I know that I’m a good enough player, I know I’m a top-10 player, even if I’m not, I wasn’t in that ranking a couple weeks ago.
“If I show up, and I’m mentally ready and physically ready, I know I can provide that tennis. The last couple weeks have been an example of that, so very proud.”
