Alex de Minaur admits his upcoming opponent in the Nitto ATP Finals will be a "great challenge" and spoke about his development.
The 25-year-old will face world No.1 Jannik Sinner in Turin tomorrow morning at 6:30am AEST, showcased live on Bein Sports.
2024 has been a year of new milestones for de Minaur, cracking into the top-10 for the first time, reaching a career-high ranking of No.6 and qualifying for three Grand Slam quarter-finals in the same season.
There have been doubts about how high the Olympian’s ceiling is in years past, but the Aussie has found ways to evolve and improve his game.
"I have just constantly looked at myself in the mirror and tried to find ways to get better," the ATP Finals debutant said. "It is what I have done every single year. Continuously trying to improve and get better and have fun ways to get better. It is never to be satisfied. Huge credit to my whole team, all the people around me who push me.
"Things just click. You look and try to find and tweak a few things until you hit the right spot and then the confidence works and it is a great thing when you are playing good tennis and high on confidence."
An almighty task awaits de Minaur in his first round-robin match, who will need to find solutions to defeat Sinner after losing all previous seven battles.
"It is not rocket science, but you have to be ready from the word go. It doesn’t get any harder than starting against Jannik," said De Minaur. "From the very start, I need to be ready, I need to compete. It is going to be a great experience. A great challenge. But this is where I have wanted to be all these years."
Sinner, a two-time major winner, finished runner-up in last year’s ATP Finals edition and has grown from strength to strength this season.
The Italian defeated de Minaur in the 2019 Next Gen Final, and the Sydneysider credited his rival.
"Jannik’s career is still very young but he has accomplished so much," de Minaur said. "The best player in the world this year. Playing some incredible tennis. Consistent. Has the best win percentage on tour and it is all for a reason. He is a very tough customer to play against, so he has earned his way to the top."
De Minaur will also face former world No.1 Daniil Medvedev and recent US Open finalist Taylor Fritz in Group Ilie Nastase.
"Medvedev himself is an interesting character," he said. "We have played a lot of matches, had a lot of battles. I always look forward to those kinds of matches. I think we are both tacticians out there when we play each other. We try and put balls in certain areas where they won’t like.
"Fritz is powerful, cool under pressure and has a great serve. He has a lot of firepower about him. He has shown what he is capable of this year. Making a final of a Grand Slam is not an easy feat."
For the first time since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004, an Australian will represent the green and gold in the singles event at the ATP Finals.
Jordan Thompson, Max Purcell and Matt Ebden will compete in the doubles, marking the most Australian representation in 24 years at the prestigious tournament.
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