Australia's top-ranked singles player, Alex de Minaur, has confessed his desire to elevate his game to the next level after being left craving for more.
The world No.9 cracked into the top-10 for the first time in his career before the 2024 Australian Open, having peaked at a career-high No.6 in mid-year and becoming the first Aussie male to reach three consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals and appear in the Nitto ATP Finals since Lleyton Hewitt.
Despite taking giant strides in the past 12 months, the Sydneysider understands that he will need to work even harder to raise his game further.
"I definitely have plenty of goals in my head," said de Minaur when referencing 2025. "I’m not really one to voice them out loud too often, but ultimately keep pushing myself.
"I’ve had my best year to date, but at the same time, I’m not satisfied with that. I want more. I want to keep pushing myself. I want to one day finish my career knowing that I gave the absolute max and everything I could do to be the best possible tennis player.
"So that’s still the goal. Still pushing, still striving for more, keep trying to work hard, get better, and keep tweaking parts of my game to hopefully get those results."
In the last edition of the United Cup, de Minaur showed the first few glimpses of his growth against the elite, defeating Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz — all who now have Grand Slam final experience.
Set to face Great Britain and Argentina in Group F, the 25-year-old hopes the same tournament can provide solid foundations for his 2025 season.
"I think [the 2024 United Cup] was extremely important, obviously for my confidence, for using it as a springboard, taking my game to a different level, and also cracking the top-10, and a lot of those milestone moments," said de Minaur.
"That was really important for me, and I think I was able to use the confidence that I gathered in the first week of the year and have my best year to date... I’ve been blessed to play some of the best players in the world at the start of the year, and it is the perfect way to get ready for the Australian Open and see where your level is at.
"Because, obviously, you have an off-season, you’re training, you’re tweaking different parts of your game, and it’s always good to see how those improvements are working, if they [are], if they’re not and a great tune-up for the Australian Open."
Although de Minaur played himself into career-best form, his fourth-round clash against Frenchman Arthur Fils at Wimbledon was one to forget after sustaining a cartilage tear on his right hip.
As a result, the three-time Newcombe medalist was forced to withdraw from his highly-anticipated quarter-final against Djokovic.
However, that lingering worry is now behind him.
"I’m feeling great. It was a tough year obviously dealing with that [injury]. I’m glad to kind of finally put it on the back-burner and forget about it," de Minaur admitted.
"I’ve felt very good in this off-season, in this pre-season we’ve put in a lot of good work. [My] body is feeling very comfortable, and I am genuinely very excited to get started again.
"There’s been a lot of highs and a lot of lows, dealing with injuries at the same time, but more than anything it’s just given me a lot of hunger and fuel to drive for bigger and better things, and this whole pre-season I’ve been motivated because I want more.
"I want to keep pushing myself for bigger, better things, and hopefully, I can accomplish that this year."
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