No longer obsessing over ranking points and numbers, and refreshed after another early exit in Paris, Alex de Minaur is still confident he can end another Wimbledon quest in the best place of his wholehearted tennis career.
As he talked with media at the All England Club on the weekend, Australia's No.1 once again demonstrated his trademark resilience, sounding bullish and confident about his prospects on the SW19 lawns. It was just a month after a third-round loss at Roland Garros left him downcast.
The 27-year-old, looking forward to his eighth main draw appearance at the grasscourt Slam, where he may well have his best chance of success, admitted he hopes to have soared to a new career-high among the world's top five by the end of the fortnight.
He will enter his first-round match on Tuesday against Argentine Roman Andres Burruchaga as fifth seed and No.6 player in the world, but with the help of a kind draw, could possibly get to No.4.
To do that, he would need to enjoy a better tournament than the No.5 Ben Shelton, who he would meet in the quarterfinals if seedings hold, and No.4 Felix Auger-Aliassime. It’s therefore likely that De Minaur, a seven-time major quarterfinalist, would need to make the first Grand Slam semifinal of his career.
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That's a big ask for a player who's been brutally hard on himself for missing out in Slam matches he feels he should have won, but De Minaur was adamant that a changed outlook over the past two months has put him in the mood for a career-altering fortnight.
"Getting on to the grasscourt season has come at a pretty good time. It's always a part of the year in which I feel refreshed and energised, and I feel quite happy, because things start to make sense quite quickly on the grass for me," explained De Minaur, who reached a final in s-Hertogenbosch and the quarters at Queen's in recent weeks.
"There's been some good tennis being played, my game is trending in the right direction. Obviously very excited to be here at Wimbledon and looking forward to hopefully being here for a while."
After the disappointment of losing from a 6-0-set up against Jakub Mensik in Paris, De Minaur couldn't have looked more glum, calling it a once-in-a-blue-moon missed opportunity, but he soon took stock of where his tennis really stood.
"I've been kind of taking a step back recently. I've been the number one person who's been pretty hard on myself. I've been pretty disappointed in my results, but I've also reminded myself that, maybe to my standards I've not had the best year, but I'm still in a pretty good position. So there's no need to be too tough on myself.
"And I feel like I'm in a better position going into this year's Wimbledon than last year when I didn't get too many matches under my belt on the grass. I have this year, so that feels great."
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Last year, De Minaur admitted that his obsession with his rankings positions and points had become one of the reasons he "burned out" leading into a Wimbledon which ended with a loss to Novak Djokovic in the final 16.
"Over the last couple of months, I felt like I've needed a little bit more drive and motivation, and, for me, it was basically looking at how close I am to new ground, new milestones. So that's renewed that hunger and drive in the right ways.
"I'm in a pretty good position. I'm seeded five, I'm playing Wimbledon, I'm on my favourite surface, one of my favourite Slams, and genuinely playing some good tennis. So I feel like the results that I'm searching for will come, it's just a matter of time.”