“The slowest conditions I’ve played on”: Alex De Minaur stunned by Shanghai Masters courts

Alex de Minaur was surprised by the court conditions at the Shanghai Masters, stating they are the 'slowest conditions' he has played on the Tour. The Australian advanced past his debut in the final Masters 1000 of the season after defeating qualifier Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-4, 6-2.

The World No. 7 completed his 48th victory of the season—a feat no Australian had achieved since former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in 2004. He also has 35 hardcourt victories, his historic single-season record so far.

The 7th seed’s win was emphatic: he converted three breaks on nine opportunities, while conceding no break points on his own serve. In fact, Carabelli was only able to win 8 return points throughout the match (18%)—far short of the Australian's 27 return points (43%).

“The conditions were tough out there. Very slow. Very different from what we’ve been playing on,” De Minaur commented in his press conference after beating the South American World No. 45. “It’s never easy in those circumstances, and matches like that are always dangerous. I’m happy with how I handled it and that I managed to get through a good match in really challenging conditions.”

Earlier, world No. 3 Alexander Zverev had criticized the slow court conditions, which in his opinion favor Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. De Minaur, for his part, agreed regarding the courts' speed: “It honestly feels like the slowest conditions I’ve played on tour. The balls get huge after just a couple of games, and the court speed is extremely slow.”

“It’s also much slower than the outside courts, which was a bit of a shock at first. But there’s nothing you can really do except adapt and deal with it. I’m glad I was able to find a way to win.”

De Minaur has secured 10 titles so far this season—eight of which were on hardcourt. His latest title came at the ATP 500 DC Open in August this year, a tournament where several players similarly spoke about the slow conditions during the summer in Washington. “It’s very similar,” he said. “I’ve actually taken the same approach I did there.”

“I’m bringing loads of clothes to change into and four pairs of shoes, because this is one of the few places where I sweat through my shoes and end up making puddles on the court, which doesn’t usually happen to me,” he added. “It happened in Washington, and now it’s happening here. The key is just being prepared for these types of conditions: bringing plenty of gear, watching what you eat, staying on top of hydration, and making sure recovery is a priority.”

De Minaur remains in contention for a spot in the ATP Finals, maintaining remarkable consistency. He needs to take one final step to secure his qualification for Turin, as he currently sits 7th in the ATP Race. "My goal is to look at every single match in front of me. As I said, there is still a lot of tennis to play, many possible results. Right now I have to concentrate on myself. If I manage to put in good performances, if I manage to win every single match until the end of the year, then I will guarantee myself a spot in Turin,” he added. “Ultimately it depends on me: to continue to be there, to achieve good results and, yes, try not to concentrate too much on what the other players are doing."