"I feel I have a long way to go” - Grand Slam title the ticket for Alex de Minaur to confirm status as Aussie great

Alex de Minaur has emerged as the standout Australian tennis player in recent years. He has been a standout fixture on the ATP Circuit, regularly going deep into competitions. However, this does not make him a legend in Australian tennis, with a major title his pathway into this special league.

Since three-time Grand Slam champion Ash Barty retired in 2022, she left huge shoes to fill in the Australian tennis scene. While she was on top in the WTA, de Minaur was finding his feet within the big talents. He had already achieved a Grand Slam quarter-final, and tasted success multiple times on the tour.

He has continued to rise up the order, reaching a career-high of world number six in 2024. Currently sitting in seventh, he is not far off that mark as he looks to build on what he has already completed in the sport. His consistency has helped him stick around at the top, especially in Grand Slam events. He has reached five quarter-finals in the prior eight events competed in.

However, he has yet to make it past this mark in six separate attempts. The next step in his career is to defeat the best players in the world on a more regular occasion to appear more regularly in the business end of the most coveted tournaments. He proved that this can be done after sneaking out of his group. A defeat to world number one Carlos Alcaraz swiftly followed in the semi-finals but it was promising signs from the 26-year-old, who targets to be on par with the greats of Australian greats. He stated this ambition on The Sit-Down podcast while commenting on what he needs to do to cement his name there.

“The way I see it is that I feel I have a long way to go,” added De Minaur. “I need to get my hands on a Slam to be even close to being in the same conversation as some of the Aussie greats before me. I have plenty of work to do, but hopefully one day!”

Currently, it is not just de Minaur who is waving the Australian flag high on tour. The likes of Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson and Aleksandar Vukic have all enjoyed success, while Nick Kyrgios came the closest to major glory in 2022 after losing in the Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic. 

There is also a lot of talent on the WTA Tour. This is led by Maya Joint. The 19-year-old has experienced a fantastic breakout campaign where she has won two WTA titles and risen to world number 32. She leapfrogged Daria Kasatkina after a poor campaign. The former world number eight is set to return to the court after a spell away, motivated to get back to her best.

This shows off the talent already in Australian tennis, with de Minaur leading this. “It’s great to be a part of it,” De Minaur stated. “I feel like this is where our nation deserves to be. We have got such a rich history and culture when it comes to tennis. It’s great to be able to show it. We are a very strong Grand Slam nation and we are in deep, just showing it with strength in numbers. Whether it is myself, whether it is any other Aussie, just to have good results out there it means the world.”

With the 2026 season set to commence in a few weeks, they will be getting the chance to play in front of a home crowd Down Under. De Minaur will partner Joint in the United Cup being played between January 2-11. This is all leading up to the Australian Open which will be hosted from January 18 - February 2.