Alex de Minaur had a standout year in 2025. He opened the season by reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open — his home Slam — for the first time and then went on to reach two ATP finals, including winning the title at the 500-level Washington Open in July.
And he’s hoping 2026 will be even better.
Hubert Hurkacz of eventual champion Poland.
While the first major of the year can be a mix of stress and excitement for all players, it’s even more so for Australians. The country hasn’t produced a men’s Australian Open champion since Mark Edmondson in 1976, so the hopes are largely pinned on De Minaur, the top-ranked Australian player and No. 6 seed, to reverse the drought. But he has a tough draw.
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He was originally given the challenge of facing former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini in the opening round before Berrettini withdrew. He will now take on Mackenzie McDonald, a lucky loser, in the first round on Monday, and Frances Tiafoe could await in the third round. From there, it would only get harder. Alexander Bublik is a potential round-of-16 opponent and, if De Minaur makes it to the quarterfinals, he would likely have to take on Carlos Alcaraz. «It basically just means that I’m going to have to be firing from the word ‘Go,'» De Minaur said of his path.
But with all of that on his shoulders, how is De Minaur feeling as the Australian Open gets underway, and does he believe he can beat Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner when the stakes are highest?
We caught up with De Minaur last month to get those answers and more.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
ESPN: First, how was your offseason? What did you do?
Alex de Minaur: I had about a week-and-a-half off, which is a lot more than I’ve had for the last four or five years, but I didn’t really go anywhere. I just spent a little bit of time with family and friends [in Spain and his home base of Monaco] and that was about it, to be honest. It was a quick turnaround, but ultimately it’s part of the job and back to work, back to getting ready for 2026. Yeah, I mean all hands on deck.
ESPN: So you didn’t go to the Maldives, with what felt like most of the tour?
De Minaur: No, sadly I didn’t. I didn’t go to the player lounge of the Maldives.
ESPN: How long did you go without picking up a tennis racket? Did you first return to the gym?
De Minaur: Basically just the week-and-a-half. There’s just not that much more time, I’ll tell you that. It’s kind of the world we live in. It’s a quick turnaround, but again, I’m happy that I was able to take a little bit of time off to switch off and recover and get myself mentally ready to start off again.
ESPN: With the 2025 season now in the rearview, what stands out to you when you reflect on it and what are you most proud of?
De Minaur: I think it was a year of lots of ups, and a couple of downs, that I’m happy with. The way I dealt with those tougher moments and ultimately had my best year to date in terms of wins, year-end ranking, a lot of great positives to build upon and yeah, hopefully I can take my opportunities and my chances in 2026 and have an even better year.
Katie Boulter [currently the No. 113-ranked player on the WTA Tour] for helping you on and off the court. How has she helped you and what is it like to have her support when you’re playing at the same tournaments?
De Minaur: It’s great to have someone there by your side who’s in the same world as you are, kind of understands the good moments, the tough moments, and everything in between, and ultimately just has your back. On the court, ultimately we’ve got two different game styles and I think we both help each other out at times. There’s a whole lot of mental perspective stuff as well, like how we each look at situations and matches and what we’re thinking in certain types of points. I do think that we’ve both been able to complement each other and almost get the most out of each other.
ESPN: Do you talk strategy with one another before matches?
De Minaur: Sometimes. It depends. We try our best to not talk too much tennis and live more of a normal life.
ESPN: Speaking of that, how is the wedding planning going?
De Minaur: It’s definitely going. It’s a whole process, obviously it’s not the easiest with both of us being tennis players, and pretty busy for most of the year. It’s a process for sure.
ESPN: How hard was it just to find a date on the calendar that worked?
De Minaur: Well, we really just didn’t have too many dates to choose from, so that helped. We have a packed schedule so it ultimately came down to when we had a second for ourselves. That’s how we made all of our decisions.
ESPN: You’ve become such an integral part of the ATP and many of the tournament’s social videos, and you were even named «Best Actor» [complete with a tiny trophy] at the ATP Finals. What do you enjoy about making those videos?
De Minaur: I like that they show my personality off the court a bit. I think people think I’m very serious because of what they see on the tennis court, but it’s a fun way for me to show how I truly am off the court. Ultimately, I’m pretty laid back, pretty relaxed, kind of a goofy guy. So it brings out that kind of side of me.
ESPN: Is there one that fans tend to reference or bring up more with you?
De Minaur: There’s some videos that people seemed to have enjoyed more than others but yeah, they seemed to have really enjoyed my work as a parking lot attendant.
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