It’s a beautiful thing, tennis.
Two days ago, Alex de Minaur hit one of the lowest points of his career after letting a 5-3 lead slip in the third set against Lorenzo Musetti at the ATP Finals.
But on Thursday, staring at the prospect of going winless at the event for a second straight year, the Australian defeated world No.6 Taylor Fritz 7-6(3) 6-3.
It was his first victory at the year-end championships in six attempts and gave himself a genuine shot at reaching the semifinals.
That opportunity became reality later in the day, when Carlos Alcaraz – looking to lock in the year-end world No.1 ranking – beat Musetti 6-4 6-1 to confirm De Minaur’s passage into the final four.
“A couple of days ago was one of the toughest days I’ve had in my career. I was in a very, very dark spot. I could tell you that I hated the sport,” De Minaur said.
“Here we are two days later, and I’m feeling great about myself. It’s incredible.”
The win over Fritz is De Minaur’s first against a top-10 opponent since Roland Garros 2024.
The Australian No.1 admitted that while the uncomfortable statistics weighed on him, his support network played a crucial role in pulling him back to centre and helping him block out the outside noise.
“My team, even Katie [Boulter], they tried to talk some sense into me and get me out of a very dark place,” he said.
“Sometimes when you’re in that place, you make peace with things. You start to care less about the result, and that lets you focus on other elements instead.
“I knew how I wanted to play, and I was going to commit to it from the first point to the last. I was OK with the result not going my way. I’d made peace with that – I just wanted to play my way.”
De Minaur’s shift in mindset was on immediate display against Fritz as he used his quick feet to dictate tempo from the baseline and pounced forward to cut off any vulnerable replies from the American.
"His ball speed is up there with the highest. He’s had an incredible match against Carlos because he’s off the ground hitting the ball huge and dictating. And today I matched him, right?”, De Minaur said of Fritz.
“At times I would even say that I was the aggressor out there. And it just shows that I’ve got that in my repertoire. You know, I just gotta come out of my shell more and just show it.”
That aggression mattered most late in the match, right when the energy threatened to collapse.
After missing a match point on return at 5-2 in the second set and then slipping to 0–30 while serving, De Minaur said all he could do was laugh in the face of what felt like a curse.
“After that match point, I just started laughing with my team because I was like, there’s something up there that’s against me. I’ve got the evil eye or something, like I’m just not allowed to win matches anymore,” he said.
“Honestly, it took some of my best tennis. I hit an incredible ace, and at 15-30 I served and volleyed. I went all-in with that aggressive mindset, even in the toughest moments when I could have easily gone back to default, tried to play solid, tried not to lose.
“I played to win, and that’s why I was able to win tonight.”
De Minaur will now face defending champion Jannik Sinner in front of the Italian’s fired-up home crowd in Saturday’s semifinal.
The numbers present a daunting task – the Aussie is 0-12 against the four-time Grand Slam champion – and De Minaur knows he must seize opportunities when they arise.
“Jannik, I played a good match against him in Beijing. In Vienna, he got the better of me, as well, but I do feel like I'm heading in the right direction,” De Minaur said. “I'm gaining momentum.”
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