After Ash Barty ended Australia’s 44-year await a girls’s Australian Open title, Alex de Minaur says it is about time the native males stepped up and put a cease to their very own grand slam drought in Melbourne.
Barty’s retirement following her historic victory means all eyes shall be on the boys’s draw subsequent month to see who can finish a await a home-grown male singles winner that stretches again to Mark Edmondson’s 1976 triumph.
World No. 22 Nick Kyrgios and the Twenty fourth-ranked de Minaur loom as Australia’s probably contenders after coming off career-best seasons on the slams.
Kyrgios reached his maiden main last at Wimbledon, whereas in his most constant grand slam season but, 23-year-old de Minaur reached the fourth spherical at each Melbourne Park and at SW19.
“It’s always amazing to see fellow Aussies, teammates, friends doing well and it opens up the door,” de Minaur mentioned.
“Hopefully we can follow suit. It would be pretty good to have an Aussie male winner in the new year.
“I’m a type of guys that is not actually glad with the place I’m proper now, I at all times need extra and am attempting to get probably the most out of myself.
“Fourth round isn’t something that satisfies me, I want to get deeper in these tournaments and play against the best in the world.”
De Minaur is using excessive after a profitable November.
The 2020 US Open quarter-finalist defeated former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev for the primary time on the Paris Masters and helped information Australia to the ultimate of the Davis Cup final month.
The Sydneysider admits to having simply someday off following the loss to Canada as his focus now switches to the newly created United Cup in Sydney subsequent week.
De Minaur and Kyrgios will type a part of an Australian aspect together with Ajla Tomljanovic and Zoe Hives that has been drawn in a pool with Spain and Great Britain.
Each participant has a singles rubber, with a combined doubles pairing set to be a degree of distinction.
“You can just see what we accomplished this last year by both of us making the Davis Cup final and the Billie Jean King Cup final shows what Australia can do,” de Minaur mentioned.
“When you look at both our teams we don’t have the highest-ranked players but we play with a lot of heart, fight and passion. I think that’s what makes us dangerous.”
