De Minaur urged to ‘up the risk’ as Hewitt predicts Wimbledon breakthrough

Former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt has identified this year’s Wimbledon as Australian star Alex de Minaur’s great chance to have his grand slam coming-out party.

De Minaur went agonisingly close to reaching his first Australian Open quarter-final on Sunday night before suffering a five-set defeat to fifth-ranked Russian Andrey Rublev that ended a largely successful summer, highlighted by three top-10 scalps at the United Cup.

Australian tennis greats, from Hewitt to Todd Woodbridge, Wally Masur and Alicia Molik, all believe the 24-year-old has never been closer to a major breakthrough.

Both Hewitt and Molik pointed to Wimbledon and the US Open as de Minaur’s best opportunities to make a deep run, with the former saying it was realistic for him to aim for a slam semi-final.

“To put himself in contention in the second week of those [next three] slams, especially Wimbledon and the US Open [should be his goal],” Hewitt told Wide World of Sports’ The Morning Serve.

“They’re two surfaces that he plays extremely well on. There are not that many great grass-court players out there, and I think Alex can really go to that next level, and hopefully push towards a quarter-final and even a semi-final at Wimbledon, if the draw opens up.

Alex de Minaur was close, but not close enough, to Andrey Rublev.

“[He is a] top-10 player now, so you’ve got to take your opportunities when they arise … obviously, the next couple of weeks are going to be frustrating because he would have loved to have pushed and made a quarter-final or a semi-final here at his home grand slam – but [there is] so much upside for him this year.”

Molik is every bit as bullish as Hewitt about de Minaur’s prospects, believing he could even win a slam title despite the dominance at the top of the men’s game, from Novak Djokovic to Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and new contender Jannik Sinner.

The former world No.8 and 2005 Australian Open quarter-finalist went as far as saying the Sydneysider would have beaten Rublev if the match was played on a faster surface at Wimbledon or the US Open.

“Gee, he got close last night, didn’t he? Rublev, I think, got to the highest gear that he needed to go, in order to beat Alex,” Molik said.

Rublev and de Minaur embrace at the net.

“I’ve never seen two guys take the ball on the rise on every single stroke. It was quite phenomenal. It was like Agassi playing Agassi.

“For Alex, he’s identified he wants to play more aggressively. Maybe he can up the risk on his serve a little bit more.

“[But] I love watching him because he can flip the switch pretty quickly to make players really uncomfortable.”

Molik, like Hewitt, was keen to see how de Minaur would fare on Wimbledon’s grass courts, where his best result is reaching the fourth round in 2022, when he gave up a two-sets-to-love lead against Chilean Cristian Garin.

“I think he’s got to bide his time a little bit, but he’s one of those guys who can take your time away. [He] can surprise you [with] his variation; [he] can play quick, can play slow, he has incredible feel and touch,” she said.

“I think we’re going to see the best of Alex on grass, to be honest. That’s my opinion. But absolutely, he can win a slam.”

De Minaur said he was “absolutely devastated” in the aftermath of his 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-0 loss to Rublev, but Hewitt urged him to take a big-picture view.

“He’d be shattered to go out how he did, especially losing in five sets as well, which could have gone either way,” Hewitt said.

“[He] fought back so well against Rublev to be up two sets to one, then wasn’t able quite to close it out.

“But [there were] so many positives over this whole summer for him. He’s gone from strength to strength.

“For him to be not only beating the top-10 players but competitive with them in every single match that he goes out there, [and] obviously during the United Cup to get into the world’s top 10 for the very first time, it’s a massive springboard for him to kickstart this year.”

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