De Minaur hot heading into Dubai, but not satisfied : “I still believe I’ve got more in the tank”

Alex de Minaur has been one of the best players on tour in the early stages of 2025. However, he knows that there is unfinished business as he prepares for Dubai and other big tournaments coming up this season.

Alex de Minaur, 2025 Australian Open Image Credit: Zuma / Psnewz

Ricky Dimon

February 23, 2025

Alex de Minaur heads into the upcoming Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships as the No 2 seed. Given his form through the first two months of the season, he has to be considered a serious title contender at this ATP 500 tournament.

De Minaur is 13-3 for his 2025 campaign with losses only to Jannik Sinner (Australian Open quarter-finals), Carlos Alcaraz (Rotterdam final) and Andrey Rublev (Doha quarter-finals). All three of those opponents went on to win each respective tournament.

I’m doing the right things. I’m confident that it’s going to lead me in the right direction and help me achieve the goals I want to achieve.

“I’m pretty happy with the way I’ve started the year,” the world No 8 assured. “I played some great tennis. I’ve lost to Jannik. I’ve lost to Carlos. Now I lost to Andrey with having a match point. Obviously the last one stings a little bit because I feel like I had my chances. It just kind of slipped away in the very end.

“But it’s all about putting myself in those situations, giving myself the opportunity to play a lot of matches — win a lot of matches. I’m doing the right things. I’m confident that it’s going to lead me in the right direction and help me achieve the goals I want to achieve.”

Raising his level on the biggest stages in tennis is surely at the top of De Minaur’s priority list. Seven of his nine titles have come at ATP 250s and none is above a 500. He has reached just one Masters 1000 final (lost to Sinner two years ago in Toronto) and he is still seeking a maiden Grand Slam semi-final appearance (he is 0-5 in quarter-finals).

This 2025 version of De Minaur, however, seems poised to reach new heights.

“The way I finished [2024] and everything that happened last year just gave me a lot of hunger and motivation to kind of pursue the grind, keep working hard, keep trying to improve on the little things that I can,” the 26-year-old Aussie commented. “I was very happy with what I achieved, but I still believe I’ve got more in the tank. Ultimately I just want to fulfill that.”