ATP Tour

De Minaur’s Sliding Tour Moment: The Zverev win that became ‘truly important’

In ATPTour.com’s new series, Sliding Tour Moment, a host of top players reflect on a career defining experience, one that they look back on as pivotal in their journey through tennis. First up is Alex de Minaur, who discussed his 2024 United Cup match against Alexander Zverev with us, and who is this week defending his title as the top seed at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington.

Some victories mean more than just hearing the words, "Game, set and match."

Alex de Minaur can attest to that sentiment. The Australian has won 11 ATP Tour titles, spent most of the past two and a half years inside the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings, and earned 332 tour-level wins since turning pro in 2015. Yet even for a player who has done so much winning, De Minaur acknowledges that there are some triumphs that simply hit harder.

“Tennis is one of those brutal sports that is very, very hard mentally,” De Minaur told ATPTour.com. “You suffer through a lot of tough moments and it's very inconsiderate, right? You put in years and years and years of hard work to achieve certain moments, and when you achieve new ground, you're ecstatic. It's one of the best feelings in the world.”

One obvious example of De Minaur ‘breaking new ground’ ironically came on the court with which he is arguably most familiar — Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena. In the 2024 United Cup semi-finals, he rallied past Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in front of his raucous hometown crowd to ensure his rise into the Top 10 for the first time.

When asked for a moment he felt had most reinforced his identity as a player, particularly in terms of his mindset, the 27-year-old quickly had his crowning win against Zverev in mind.

“I would probably say United Cup [in 2024], breaking into the Top 10 for the first time, beating Zverev in a tough match where I thought I'd played one of my better matches,” De Minaur said. “That really gave me the belief that I'd broken some new ground, which was truly important.”

De Minaur had already notched two other headline-grabbing Top-10 wins, against Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic in Perth, in that year’s United Cup. What elevated his victory against Zverev was the knowledge that he had finally earned membership of one of tennis’ most exclusive clubs: De Minaur is one of just 188 players to have reached the Top 10 since the PIF ATP Rankings were introduced in 1973.

The Sydney native also cites the reaction from former players including former World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, Team Australia’s United Cup captain that day, as something that made the moment unique.

“I had many [messages] from people around the tennis world,” De Minaur reflected. “Mainly the past players — the ones that have been in the sport — understand the difficulty of certain milestones and feats. They are the first to acknowledge that, and it shows you that what you've just achieved is so important.

“Obviously Lleyton was there. It was a pretty cool moment. But anyone who's been around the tennis world, those kinds of messages probably mean more than potentially what the media will say about you because the past players kind of understand. They've been through that same struggle. They know how tough it is to reach certain milestones. So they'll give you that credit or that message of congratulations, and those ones just hit different.”

_{^{Lleyton Hewitt embraces De Minaur after his victory against Zverev in Sydney. Photo: David Gray/AFP via Getty Images}}

The Aussie great Ken Rosewall, whose name adorns the stadium in which De Minaur overcame then-World No. 7 Zverev, was one of those to recognise his younger countryman’s necessary commitment to 'the long game' ahead of the Zverev clash.

“Alex has all the necessary parts of the game that's going to improve and he's shown that certainly in the past 12 months,” Rosewall told ATPTour.com at the time. “His game has come up to another level, with some good wins that he's had more recently, and just how well he's playing. The little bit of extra confidence that he's put in his game to give him some more variation is certainly making him one of the new players and one of the strong players of the men's circuit.”

Despite the elation of De Minaur’s victory against Zverev, Australia ultimately exited the United Cup that evening after Germany dug in for a 2-1 semi-final victory. That outcome was perhaps a reminder of the just how quickly the highs and lows come in tennis, a factor that a hard-nosed pro like De Minaur is all too aware of.

“The sad thing about it is that [the joy] doesn't last very long because the way we are wired is, ‘Okay, on to the next. What's next? What's the next new ground to break?’” the Australian reflected. “So it's always been like that. You chase years and years of hard work and sacrifice for that one moment of pure excitement and being ecstatic. But as soon as that's done, you've got to chase the next one, right? Because you're hoping to feel that feeling again.”

Alex de Minaur's 'Sliding Tour Moment' — Honourable Mentions
Nottingham Challenger, 2018: “I think a big tournament for me was probably the Nottingham Challenger. It's where I broke into the Top 100 for the first time, so that's one that I'll remember and obviously cherish. It was an important moment for me."

Nitto ATP Finals, 2024-2025: "I guess making Turin. I think Turin was a bit of a pinch-me moment because it shows that you're not just fluky for one tournament. It shows that you've been consistent throughout the whole year, and that's one of the things I pride myself very heavily on. To be able to back that up the second year just showed that it wasn't a one-time fluke, and I'm proud of that.”

Read & Watch More About Alex de Minaur:
De Minaur on plan for foundation: ‘All I want to do is help the next generation’
Best photos from De Minaur & Boulter's wedding celebration
De Minaur gives relationship advice in this episode of Courtside Confessions!
De Minaur Down Under: New documentary follows ATP Tour star’s Aussie summer