When Alex De Minaur reflects on the summer that was, one that took him from talented junior to fully-fledged pro, a few events stand out. The biggest was recovering from match point down to win his maiden grand slam round at the Australian Open; another was watching – from courtside – Jordan Thompson's Davis Cup singles success on debut against the Czechs at Kooyong.
There was also his first ATP main draw appearance (via qualifying, in Brisbane) and victory (against seasoned Frenchman Benoit Paire, in Sydney). He shared a pre-season, Davis Cup squad, supportive conversations and the practice court with Nick Kyrgios, four years his senior and already the world No.15.
Winning start: Alex De Minaur beat Austria's Gerald Melzer in five sets at the Australian Open.Credit:AP
"The level is always there – his intensity on court is just through the roof," smiles the lightly-built, boyish De Minaur, who turns 18 on Friday. "And it's freaking tough to play against him, because he's just such a great ball-striker."
And how different are the public perceptions of Kyrgios from the man De Minaur has come to know in the team environment? "Oh, Nick's a great guy. He's really helped me out a lot. He's put in hours on court with me where he really didn't have to, and everything he's doing for me I'm just grateful."
Kyrgios' encouragement extends to scheduling advice, and De Minaur – dubbed "Demon" by Bernard Tomic last year – is listening. His plans to transition to senior ranks have been fast-tracked slightly by recent events, and the Wimbledon boys finalist – he was beaten by Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who made a different type of news this week after being disqualified from the Davis Cup tie against Britain – considers himself to have graduated.
"I think the results this summer definitely helped me with that decision," said De Minaur, whose ranking is already at 248th, and No.12 in Australia. "First I was planning on playing the Australian Open juniors, but, just with all the matches I played and the high level I was giving, I decided to give it a miss and have a good training week there.
"I think it does (change my short-term goals) a bit, seeing where my level's at; (I'm) definitely gonna try and make that step on to the Tour events a little bit quicker. Hopefully, with a little bit of help with getting my ranking better, I'll try to play a lot more qualie events, and a lot of Challengers."
The next two are in Japan, after De Minaur last week eliminated top seed Go Soeda in the first round of the Launceston International before losing to South Australian Alex Bolt in the second. That followed his Davis Cup training and immersion week as the orange boy in the team that beat the Czech Republic 4-1 to advance to a home quarter-final against the US from April 7-9.
"He's had a great summer, fantastic," said Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt, De Minaur's boyhood idol-turned-mentor, of his occasional house guest. "I had a fair bit of belief in him that he could stand up and play against the best players in the world on the big stage in big tournaments and he certainly repaid that faith.
"He made gradual steps through the Australian summer says just like 'Thommo'. Those two probably had the two biggest pre-seasons that I'd seen out of all the Australian players, and those two had a lot of success in their own right over the Australian summer, so they deserve that.
"Alex still has areas of his game that he's got to work on – strength, and becoming more physical on the court – but a lot of that's going to happen naturally as well. But he's a kid who does all the right things, so I couldn't have been happier with his progress over the summer and I have no doubt that he's gonna keep working. He's not satisfied with where he is at the moment."
Yet he also exceeded his January expectations. Having claimed he started out simply wanting to play "good tennis", De Minaur ended up toppling Austrian Gerald Melzer after trailing by two sets to one, and 5-2 in the fourth, to earn a major breakthrough at Melbourne Park and an $80,000 payday.
"It was a great feeling. My first five-set victory, and especially coming back from match point down and being in a little bit of trouble – it was great to be able to come back and win. These matches have definitely given me confidence," he said. "I think my level's there; I've just got to learn how to keep my level there and not have so many ups and downs in concentration and energy. The matches are never over. You've got to keep on fighting every ball, and some will eventually go your way."
De Minaur is still dreaming big – of winning slams and becoming world No.1 – and was inspired by the Australian Open comeback triumph of his other childhood hero, Roger Federer. Yet he is also clear about what is required to get there, and is determined to do everything it takes.
The Sydney-born son of a Uruguayan father and Spanish mother has the support of Tennis Australia while living and training in Alicante under local coach Adolfo Gutierrez. "But whenever I'm in Australia, or whenever 'Rusty' (Hewitt) is around, he's really been helping me out."
In return, de Minaur is not just doing all the right things, but saying them. Convincingly. A future Davis Cup representative? Oi, oi, oi. "That's what I've always wanted to be. My goal is definitely to be able to do what 'Thommo' did one day," said De Minaur. "Playing for your country, that's definitely gonna be the highlight of my career, so that's what I'm aspiring to get to. I'm just gonna try to keep competing the way I have and I'll be ready whenever the opportunity comes."
Linda Pearce is the Chief Tennis Writer and general sports reporter for The Age. She writes about a range of sports, including football, netball, and gymnastics. Linda has twice been named Australian tennis writer of the year.
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