How Newcombe medallist de Minaur can go to next level
Anna Harrington |
A spot in the world’s top four awaits if Alex de Minaur can kick his serve up a gear, says Australian tennis legend John Newcombe.
De Minaur claimed a fourth Newcombe Medal, and third on the spin, at Australian tennis’s night of nights in Melbourne on Monday, winning from fellow nominees Maya Joint, Kim Birrell, Adam Walton, Priscilla Hon and Tristan Schoolkate.
He is now second only to retired great Ash Barty, who won the top honour five times.
It was a fitting reward for yet another season where the gritty Sydneysider again upped his game.
De Minaur joined his mentor Lleyton Hewitt and the great Newcombe himself as only the third Australian to make the semi-finals of the ATP’s prestigious season-ending championship.
In October, de Minaur matched his career-high ranking of world No.6, while he remains the only Australian man since Hewitt 20 years ago to crack the top 10.
But a grand slam title – or even semi-final appearance – still eludes the six-time quarter-finalist, who has never beaten world No.2 and two-time defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in 13 attempts.
Newcombe still believes the hard-working de Minaur can yet elevate himself to the group directly below all-conquering top two of Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner.
“De Minaur’s progression has been fantastic – each year he gets that little bit better,” Newcombe said on Monday.
“And I think myself, like everybody else says, ‘Oh, come on, Alex, if you just had a better serve, you’d be in the top four.’
“So let’s hope that he can do something about that.”
Teen sensation Joint was the pick of the runners-up after a breakout season.
Newcombe feels young talent like Joint and 17-year-old female junior athlete of the year Emerson Jones can lead an Australian tennis renaissance.
Cruz Hewitt, the 16-year-old son of Lleyton, won the male junior athlete of the year award.
“Obviously because we’ve been at great heights we want to see Wimbledon champions and things like that,” Newcombe said.
“We went adrift here for a while, and I get the feeling we’re heading back.
“There’s some new young talent coming up that are doing well.”
Joint, who switched allegiances from the US to Australia in 2023, this year captured her first two WTA titles, on clay at Rabat and on grass at Eastbourne
The 19-year-old is currently world No.32, the country’s top-ranked woman, and is set to be seeded for the first time at January’s Australian Open, with Newcombe expecting big things.
“I’ve been really impressed by Maya Joint,” Newcombe said.
“She’s had a terrific year and she’s just starting to believe that she belongs right up there at the top.
“She’s the quiet achiever, isn’t she, Maya?
“She just goes about her business and nothing really flashy, but she gets the job done – and I think she’s probably just touching the edges of how good she can actually be.”
AAP
