‘Demon’ sounds the battle cry for Aussies in Paris
Ian Chadband |
Alex de Minaur believes he’s ready to challenge for French Open glory for the first time and has declared his pride in Australian tennis unleashing its biggest battalion of players on Roland Garros for 35 years.
De Minaur, once again the country’s leading hope in Paris, reckons he’s feeling confident, refreshed and a completely different clay-court performer to the one who used to roll up at the red courts with no sense of expectation or enjoyment.
But on a day when teenager Maya Joint was reaching her first WTA final in Morocco and veteran Daria Saville was battling through the final round of qualifying to make it a total of 16 Australians in the main draw, buoyant main man de Minaur told AAP: “It makes me feel proud to be an Aussie.”
The red clay has so often been a merciless early burial ground for Australian hopes but de Minaur believes that, like his own fortunes in Paris, things are changing, with the largest contingent since 1990 now ready for the championships on Sunday.
“It always makes me feel proud to see how over the last two, three years, we have come back and become a force to be reckoned with, like we did all those years ago?” de Minaur told AAP from Paris.
“Australia’s got such a rich history and culture in tennis, and we are a grand slam nation, and we should be showing it. It’s great to see so many players coming out on the men’s side, we are showing up week in and week out.
“We’ve got some great girls coming through with Maya just getting into the first final. It’s really just showing that, even though it’s the French Open and the clay that we’re normally not our best on, we’re here to be a force to be reckoned with. That’s great and something to be proud of.”
Naturally, though, it’s de Minaur himself, the world No.9, who remains the standard bearer, as he comes off a week’s “refreshing” break following his most convincing-looking clay season yet which he believes is a by-product of his breakthrough run to the quarters in Paris last year.
Could he even win it this year? “For me, the biggest thing, and what’s going to take me to to the next level and next step coming into these grand slams, is not just being out here to make up the numbers, but actually planning on going the distance,” he said.
“That’s the whole plan. It’s been a long, long road, and there’s been gradual improvements every year, but I’m ready to make the next step, to go even deeper, breaking through that quarter-final barrier and be playing for the title.”
It won’t be easy, with a minefield-littered path featuring the prospect of early matches against Jakub Mensik and Jack Draper even before a potential quarter-final date with world No.1 Jannik Sinner.
But de Minaur shrugged: “I’ve always been a person that stays in the present, so the only thing on my mind right now is my first-round opponent, (Serbian Laslo) Djere.”
But of his own form, he noted a mite bullishly: “Last year’s run gave me a lot of confidence to really believe that I can be a menace on the surface, and I can take it to anyone on any given day.”
Joint, at 19, has impressed de Minaur hugely, as he learned the youngster had reached her first final in Rabat on Friday after Ajla Tomljanovic retired, feeling poorly. The pair are due to meet again in the Paris first round.
Saville completed the Aussie main draw line-up when she came from a set down to beat American Taylor Townsend 2-6 6-2 6-4 in her final qualifier, but her reward is a treacherous first round date with seventh seed and Australian Open champion, Madison Keys.
AAP
