Alex de Minaur will become a grand slam champion — and if it doesn’t happen in Paris this week, then Australia could be saluting a new king at its own major in Melbourne.
That’s the prediction of Swedish great Mats Wilander, who has joined the chorus of appreciation for the Sydneysider’s breakthrough run to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, where he will be again an outsider to beat Olympic champion Alexander Zverev on Wednesday (Thursday morning AEST).
“It’s no surprise to me he’s in the quarters,” Wilander told reporters at Roland Garros, saying he sees shades of de Minaur’s idol, Lleyton Hewitt, in the 25-year-old’s ability to squeeze every bit of improvement out of himself.
“Alex is unbelievable, his legs are stronger every time I see him. He’s a player who improves by the smallest margins, but he’s always improving.
“It’s said he doesn’t have the weapons, but nor did Lleyton Hewitt, and nor did I, honestly.
“If you don’t have the weapons, you’ve got to have this, this and these,” he added, pointing to his heart, head and … lower area.
“When you have those, you’re willing to change your tactics depending on who you’re playing, rather than today’s model which is ‘I’m going to play my own game and not worry about the other person’.
“If you’re humble enough to know and understand that you can’t outhit the big hitters — for me, I couldn’t outhit (Boris) Becker or (Ivan) Lendl — then you’ve gotta do something different. Alex is learning this, it looks like to me.
“He’s unbelievable. Talk about (the Spanish clay-court grinder) David Ferrer getting the most out of his game, well you have to say Alex is getting the most out of his.
“But I still think there’s more to come because he’s so fast — and if he learns to be fast at the right time on the right ball, there’s even more improvement. Lleyton did that at times too.”
When pushed, Wilander said he would go for Australian Open champ Jannik Sinner and Wimbledon champ Carlos Alcaraz as his outstanding Roland Garros picks.
But down the line, he is confident de Minaur will have his moment in the sun — most likely at his home slam.
“I think there’s not really a limit for Alex in a way, because for him, knowledge of his opponent and knowledge of his own limitations will make him a better tactician, just like it was for Lleyton,” he said.
“The Australian Open (is his best chance) probably because it’s the fastest hard court.
“He has to improve his serve, needs to add a little power to his serve. If he does, the courts there suit him already and having the crowd behind him is massively important because it’ll make the opponent feel some of that.”
AAP
Sports content to make you think… or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday.