De Minaur learning how to relish in his recent… National Bank Open

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An unusual thing happened last Sunday. It wasn’t just that improbable come-from-behind win; or not only converting a ridiculous lob that somehow landed in to keep the finals in Washington going.

It wasn’t even Alex de Minaur going over to comfort his opponent at the chair after beating him – and then walking back onto the court to lift the trophy in D.C.

Maybe the most abnormal part of it all was that de Minaur actually got to savour and enjoy the achievement of winning his first title of the season. The flight scheduled to take off for Toronto that Sunday evening got bumped to Monday morning. An actual night with nothing on the agenda had suddenly presented itself. So, for the first time in what felt like forever, the Australian was able to appreciate the accomplishment. Take it all in. Have a dinner and a gathering with his team and toast the triumph.

It sounds so basic, but in the ever-whirlwind tennis world, there’s rarely a moment for that. It’s always, ‘on to the next one.’ The next practice. The next opponent. The next recovery session. The next city on tour.

“The life of a tennis player is being on the go, non-stop,” de Minaur says flatly.

So, this time, when the itinerary changed, de Minaur made it a point for the weekly traveling team – player, coach, physio, and fitness trainer – to grab a glass of wine and cheers each other. Soak in what “we did together,” as de Minaur put it.

It’s an approach of gratitude and staying present that really hadn’t occurred in the Australian’s career until mid-way through this year. And it happened out of necessity.

It was at Roland-Garros that de Minaur hit a wall mentally and openly revealed he was suffering from burnout. It had become too much. All of it. The never-ending hamster wheel. Always being on the go. Not getting a moment to exhale.

There was no choice but to take a break for his own sanity, and as a byproduct of that, his tennis game.

“It was just too much for me,” he acknowledges.

With the time off, de Minaur changed his priorities. Stopped checking his ranking every day, made the decision to stop worrying about defending points and put a stop to scoreboard watching of what rivals were doing. More than that, there was a mindset shift of, “believe I’m a Top 10 player, no matter what the ranking says at the time.”

De Minaur explains it this way: if he’s healthy in body and mind, “then I can produce the goods any given week.” That confidence led to a change. In how he perceives himself and his game and how to spend time away from the court. There’s a separation between church and state now. Each morning on the road, de Minaur will go find a local coffee shop. Spends time exploring the city he wakes up in. If there’s a day match and they’re feeling it, the team will go grab dinner at a recommended local spot.

And if at the end of a week there’s a trophy lift like there was in Washington, it’s imperative for the group to raise their glasses together. To cherish the moments of joy.

“I think it was a very important moment in my life and in my career,” de Minaur now admits of his break after the French Open.

What it’s unlocked is a talented tour veteran playing with such ease. In Washington, he dropped only two sets the entire week. Here in Toronto, on the ropes against Frances Tiafoe in the third set on Sunday, de Minaur got out of a double-break point jam, serving at 2-3. Facing the second of the two, de Minaur outlasted the American in a 15-shot rally, then went on to hold to keep himself in it, right around the point that Tiafoe had flipped the switch and elevated his level. Afterward, de Minaur made the point that the entire complexion of the match would have changed had he not come through in that spot.

“I'm on the right track. I'm doing the right things… I am happy if the result doesn't go my way. I'm OK dealing with that,” de Minaur says. “The biggest thing is, I know the way I need to play, the way I need to compete, the way I need to go out there on the court.

“That's the only way forward. So it will come.”

The ATP's best return to Toronto this summer for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers July 26 to Aug. 7, 2025 at Sobeys Stadium. 2025 Tickets are on sale. Get your tickets today!

Feature Photo : Peter Power