Alex de Minaur admitted he is “sick and tired” of people criticising his serve after thumping Billy Harris in the United Cup. The 25-year-old dispatched his rival 6-2, 6-1 in a singles tie between Australia and Great Britain.
The third edition of the United Cup began at the end of last week and features 18 nations.
Players from the ATP and WTA Tours compete for their countries side by side, with Germany winning the event last year.
De Minaur, who is engaged to British star Katie Boulter, played his first match at the tournament on Saturday as he overcame Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets. And he raised his game another level to thrash Harris in his second match.
The star was interviewed on court in the aftermath of his latest victory after serving up six aces and winning 89 per cent of points on his first serve.
And he suggested he had been trying to build his stature to improve his serve over the off-season as he explained: “I got sick and tired of everyone saying I didn’t have a big enough first serve. So I did my best, I tried to get a little bit more muscle into me and I’m glad it paid off today.”
De Minaur is known for his defensive capabilities during matches but doesn’t have a serve that can hurt the top players on the ATP Tour. He enjoyed his best ever season in 2024 as he reached three Grand Slam quarter-finals but is still an outsider to win a Major this year.
But Australian tennis icon Ken Rosewall leapt to the defence of his compatriot a year ago as he explained during an interview with the ATP website: “Alex has all the necessary parts of the game that’s going to improve.
“His gradual improvement is going to help him be one of the top players. Size helps. I mean, there’s certainly parts of this game of tennis that it helps big players, 6ft 3in or 6ft 5in, [like] service motions.
“It’s a great part of their game where they get many easy points because of their great serving motion. But look, Alex’s serve is not weak by any stretch of the imagination. And I think he’s gained more confidence in his serving ability with the rest of his game.
“He’s a six-footer, he’s not small. The surface that most of the tournaments are played on now are high-bouncing surfaces.
“But Alex is that type of an athlete where he can move so well. Not that he has any outstanding weaknesses at all, but maybe a bit of height would help. But I don’t think it’s necessary for him to be the best player in the world.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk