“One week is enough to make you miss the sport”: Alex de Minaur arrives refreshed to carry Australia’s United Cup hopes

Alex de Minaur will be Australia’s main hope at the United Cup, leading the hosts as the country’s top-ranked player and No. 1 men or women. The world No. 6 will team up with teenage sensation Maya Joint, currently ranked world No. 32, who is set to make her United Cup debut. Together, they headline an Australian squad aiming to start the season strongly on home soil.

The 27-year-old begins the new season at a career-high ranking of world No. 6, with the United Cup serving as his only warm-up event ahead of the Australian Open. De Minaur arrived in Sydney after spending the end-of-year celebrations with his fiancée, Katie Boulter, and spoke to Nine Australia about his mindset heading into the new campaign.

“I feel great. This has probably been the longest off-season I’ve had in a long time,” De Minaur said. The Australian recently competed in an exhibition event at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final in London from December 5 to 7, where he lifted the title. “I had about a week off; it’s not like we’re talking about a whole month or anything. It’s enough time to make you miss the sport and be ready for the tough pre-season ahead.”

“I’ve had time to relax and time to train for the new season. I want to make sure I’m in my best condition. I always want to start off well here,” he added.

De Minaur will be the central figure for Australia at the season-opening mixed-team event, which features both ATP and WTA players. The hosts were drawn into Group D alongside Czechia—led by Jakub Mensik and Barbora Krejcikova—and Norway, with Casper Ruud and Malene Helgo as their singles players.

The world No. 6 arrives confident and mentally refreshed after a brief off-season break. “What I’ve found over the years, for me to bring my best tennis, I need to be able to switch off when I’m off the court,” De Minaur explained. “As soon as I leave the court, I try to switch off, go for nice dinners, get a coffee, go for a wander. That’s my way of making sure I don’t burn out.”

“For me, that helps make sure that when I step on court, I’m ready to go. It’s no secret that the Australian Open is a tournament I want to do well at and play my best tennis at,” he added.

At the first Grand Slam of the year, De Minaur will be seeded sixth and will look to defend the quarterfinal run he achieved in 2025—his best result in Melbourne so far. That campaign ended with a loss to world No. 1 and eventual champion Jannik Sinner. Even so, his performance marked a milestone for Australian tennis, with no local player having reached the men’s singles quarterfinals since 2015, when a 19-year-old Nick Kyrgios fell to eventual champion Andy Murray.

“The Australian fans are passionate; they are the best in the world,” De Minaur said at the airport. “For any of the Aussies competing, there’s nothing we want to do more than play well in front of our home fans.” He also underlined his long-term progress: “There’s been a real effort over the last few years to keep getting the best out of myself. I’ve been improving every year, so I’m hoping to have a great summer.”

Another topic De Minaur addressed was the next step in his career: challenging the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, and joining the small group of players regularly contending for Grand Slam titles. The recent ATP Finals semifinalist believes consistency and hard work could be decisive in closing that gap.

“I’ve played some very close matches over the years with both of them, and you feel like you’re getting closer and closer,” he said. “You have to work on your game, find new weapons. For me, it’s finding different ways to hurt these players. It might be being ready to take more risks or being a disruptor.”

“It’s a couple of things here and there that we’ve been trying to work towards, in hopes of taking that next step,” De Minaur added. “There’s no other way than just getting better.”

Australia will take to the court on January 3, with 19-year-old Joint—currently the nation’s top-ranked female player—facing Malene Helgo, while De Minaur will renew his rivalry with Casper Ruud. The matchup comes just weeks after their meeting at the UTS Grand Final, where the Australian emerged as champion.