Alex de Minaur has been hailed as a gift to Australian tennis by Rod Laver after capping his breakout season with the ATP Tour Newcomer of the Year title.
De Minaur, 19, was just edged out by world number 15 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in a thrilling finale at the ATP Next Gen Finals in Milan on Saturday night, succumbing 2-4, 4-1, 4-3 (7-3), 4-3 (7-3).
It was a typically full-blooded performance from the youngster who rose from world number 208 to number 31 in 2019.
The all-time great Laver was among those excited about what lay ahead, with de Minaur set to head into the home summer as Australia’s number one player and on course to be top seed at the Australian Open.
“Great match and congratulations @StefTsitsipas on your victory in @nextgenfinals. First in class,” Laver said on Twitter.
“As for @alexdeminaur, I can’t wait to see you play in Australia this summer. What a gift for Australian tennis.”
De Minaur, the only teenager participating in the elite end-of-season event reserved for top players aged 21 and under, saved two match points at 3-2 in the fourth set in the shortened format, but his resistance ran out in the tiebreaker.
In the absence of Alexander Zverev, who skipped the event for the second year after qualifying for the ATP Finals, Tsitsipas, 20, was the top seed and he made no secret of how badly he wanted to come out on top.
“It’s great. I played some good tennis this week here in Milan,” Tsitsipas said.
“It was a fantastic match. I stayed calm even though I had two chances to win the match, but I stayed calm.”
Last year’s runner-up, Andrey Rublev, needed five sets to defeat Spaniard Jaume Munar in a playoff for third place, with the Russian winning 1-4, 4-3 (7-4), 2-4, 4-2, 4-3 (7-3).
PAA
