Alex de Minaur has qualified for the year-end finals for the first time in his career after a breakout season on the ATP Tour.
De Minaur reached a career high of sixth in the world with an impressive year on the ATP Tour, that saw him reach the quarter-finals of three Grand Slams.
De Minaur won the Mexican Open for a second time in 2024 and added to his trophy cabinet with the Libema Open in the Netherlands a few months later.
The Australian did struggle with injuries throughout the year however, as De Minaur withdrew from Wimbledon at the quarter-final stage due to injury, giving Novak Djokovic a bye to the semis.
Injuries plagued him once more at a Major in 2024 as De Minaur was injured at the US Open, falling to Jack Draper in the quarter-finals.
Despite his fitness problems, Djokovic’s withdrawal from the ATP Finals, secured De Minaur’s place in Turin, becoming the first Australian to compete at the event since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004.
Thanasi Kokkinakis reacts to Alex de Minaur qualifying for the ATP Finals
De Minaur’s qualification for the ATP Finals is a huge result for Australian tennis, and his Davis Cup teammate, Thanasi Kokkinakis was one of the first to congratulate him.
“No one more deserving,” said Kokkinakis.
De Minaur himself was very excited to learn that he had qualified.
Following the news that he had qualified for Turin, De Minaur withdrew from this week’s Belgrade Open, which he had planned to play to fend off Andrey Rublev, who was chasing down the final qualification spot.
Is Alex de Minaur the best Australian tennis player since Lleyton Hewitt?
With De Minaur heading to the ATP Finals, things are finally looking up for Australian tennis, 20 long years after legend Hewitt last played at the event.
But how does De Minaur compare to the rest of Australia’s ATP stars in recent years?
| Career-high ATP rank | Name | Best Grand Slam performance | Best Masters 1000 performance | Best ATP 500 performance | Best ATP Finals performance |
| 6 | Alex de Minaur | QF – US Open X 2, French Open, Wimbledon | F – Canadian Open | W – Mexican Open X 2 | Qualified – 2024 |
| 13 | Nick Kyrgios | F – Wimbledon | F – Cincinnati Open | W – Japan Open, Mexican Open, Washington Open X 2 | – |
| 17 | Bernard Tomic | QF – Wimbledon | QF – Indian Wells, Shanghai, Cincinnati Open | F – Mexican Open | – |
| 23 | Alexei Popyrin | 4R – US Open | W – Canadian Open | QF – Tokyo Open | – |
| 26 | Jordan Thompson | 4R – US Open X 2 | QF – Paris Masters | SF – Queen’s Club | – |
Nick Kyrgios no doubt remains the biggest name in Australian tennis, and his achievements stack up fairly well against De Minaur’s.
A Grand Slam final and four ATP 500 trophies might well make up for his failure to reach the year-end finals, which you could attribute to Kyrgios not playing a full schedule for most of his career to date.
Alexei Popyrin broke through to win the Canadian Open earlier this year and could be another name to watch out for in Australian tennis as he looks up to rack up more accomplishments of his own.
Australian tennis has been in the news recently as De Minaur announced his new Junior Tour, aimed at supporting the next generation of Australian youngsters.
It remains to be seen whether any of the current or next generation of Australian stars can achieve similar success to that of two-time Grand Slam champion Hewitt, but only time will tell.
The ATP Finals featuring Alex de Minaur will begin on the 10 November.
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