Keep an Eye on Australian Tennis Player Alex de Minaur at the 2025 US Open: ‘My Weapon Is Speed’

Alex de Minaur, the tennis player currently ranked eighth in the world and seeded eighth at the US Open, has that lanky-tendoned physique that’s so effective in racquet sports, and he’s turning more than a few heads as we walk through midtown Manhattan. Even if people aren’t placing him immediately, it’s evident that de Minaur has a kind of lissome gravitas, underscored by his lowest-key look: slouchy bleached jeans, a blue baseball cap, and a plain black tee. The only dash of anything fancy is a Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra bracelet on his right wrist, sparkling chrome in the August light.

I ask him about being recognized. “It’s happening more, but I can still go out and enjoy where I am,” he says, as we climb to a shaded gazebo in Central Park.

Now 26, de Minaur—who plays his first match at the Open later today—has been on tour for a decade. Lately, however, his public profile has risen: He reached the quarterfinals at last year’s French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open, as well as this year’s Australian Open—a streak that vaulted him further into the conversation. He also picked up two smaller trophies last season and another just weeks ago, in Washington, DC, where he saved three match points against the top-20 Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to clinch his 10th career title.

That Washington victory felt pivotal—not just because it brought him into double digits in terms of hardware, but because of its evidence that de Minaur was tapping into a new psychological gear. “The biggest thing for me in those tough moments, like in that final, was that I was okay with the result not going my way. I was in this kind of zone of tranquility.” He credits the shift to a pared-back mindset: less obsession with ranking, more emphasis on the moment. “See ball, hit ball,” as he puts it. (It should be noted here that de Minaur is super easygoing in person—both chill in vibe and warm in disposition.)

De Minaur grew up predominantly training in Spain, though he competes under the flag of Australia, where he was born and where he now lives. His artillery has never been big-gun power, but rather speed—tons of it. He is one of the fastest men on tour, and the skill has garnered him a sobriquet: the “Demon” (which is also a play on his surname). When he’s locked in on the court, commentators and fans will often say “it’s demon hour.”