ATP Tour

De Minaur says he can beat Sinner, if he can execute the plan

Alex de Minaur says he knows how to beat Jannik Sinner. It's just the execution that's the challenge.

"I know how to beat him. It's just not that easy to do, right? You've got to hit the ball very hard, very flat, very deep and very close to the lines,” De Minaur said following his semi-final exit against the Italian at the Nitto ATP Finals on Saturday. “It is something that I try to do, but it's obviously not the easiest thing to do.

“I do think for me to have genuine chances, I need to serve well throughout the whole match. My serve dropped a little bit and could have been better.”

De Minaur now trails Sinner 0-13 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series but did hold his own throughout much of the first set in their latest clash in Turin. The Australian led 5-4 in the first set but was broken when serving at 5-5 and from there it was largely one-way traffic.

The 26-year-old feels the relentlessness of Sinner is the biggest challenge when facing the World No. 2.

“I do think there's more constant pressure," De Minaur said. "That's the biggest thing with Jannik. More often than not I feel like with Jannik you can get into a bit of a snowball effect. After one break, the second break comes, and all of a sudden you're doing your best to fight off potentially a bagel or 6-1.

“That's mainly due to how well he's returning and his serving at the moment. His serving in big points has been exceptional. I think I'm probably not the first player this week to talk about that. That's been very impressive by him.”

De Minaur’s semi-final defeat in Turin bookends an otherwise standout year. The Australian finishes with a 56-24 record, his first season surpassing the 50-win mark, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. De Minaur’s lone title of 2025 came at the ATP 500 event in Washington.

The No. 7 player in the PIF ATP Rankings is keen to push on again in 2026.

“I still think that I've got more to give,” said De Minaur, who earned a win against Taylor Fritz in the round-robin stage in Turin. “I haven't hit my peak just yet. I've also got to be careful with how much I push myself and how much pressure I put on myself because that's what gets me into dark places. The desire to keep on improving and keep on wanting more and expecting more. I've got to find a healthy balance.

“As we've seen kind of in the past two matches, I do have the ability to play with a higher pace and more aggressive style tennis. I do think this is what needs to come out to beat the best players in the world.”