OOver the past few years, while ploughing an often lonely furrow for Australia at Grand Slam events, Alex de Minaur has been at pains to argue that things will get better, sooner rather than later. Numbers, it’s all about numbers, he suggested, referring to the growing presence of Australians in the men’s top 100.
It’s been a long time coming, but if this year’s US Open is anything to go by, it seems the pyramid effect – the more players you have, the more likely some of them are to want to move up – is working.
For the first time since 1997, Australia has four men in the third round of the US Open. De Minaur is joined in the last 32 by Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson and Chris O’Connell, four Sydney natives whose friendship, work ethic and camaraderie have propelled them to new heights. If Popyrin, who faces 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic, and O’Connell, who faces world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, face tough battles, Thompson and de Minaur have a good chance of advancing. Things happen.
“I think Australia has shown over the years the rich history that it has in the sport,” de Minaur says. “There was a phase where we maybe lost some of those numbers, but I think recently we have shown the strength of the country.
“With this new wave of players, we are really flying the flag proudly, not just with our numbers. We are a Grand Slam nation, but we don’t have that many people in terms of population, and we have reached the Davis Cup final two years in a row with what some would call not the strongest team.
“But we’re just showing what it means to play for Australia. I know all these guys over there, they’re flying the flag really proudly. It’s great to see them all doing well.”
With Nick Kyrgios still sidelined with an injury, most of Australia’s hopes have fallen on de Minaur’s shoulders, with Rinky Hijikata the only other Australian to reach the last 16 of a Slam in the past two years. De Minaur often talks about his privilege of being the leader of Australian men’s tennis, setting an example through his work ethic and professionalism for others to follow. The 25-year-old is setting standards that Kyrgios, for all his talent and success, arguably did not.
“Look, I think just watching him achieve what he’s achieved at this level, I think ‘Demon’ is the epitome of hard work and perseverance,” said Popryin, who earlier this month in Montreal became the first Australian to win a Masters 1000 title since Lleyton Hewitt in 2003. “He’s definitely a very hard worker and showed us that if you can put your mind and your brain and your body into it, you can achieve something. [big] things.
“He was one of the first to congratulate me after I won the title. [in Montreal]and that’s the kind of person he is. We’ve known each other for a long time, we’ve climbed together. He in the top 10 and I at my highest point in my career [ranking] is a great thing for us. It’s something that as kids, you know, we never really thought about, but it’s definitely what we wanted.”
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Australians have always produced good doubles players: Kyrgios, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Matt Ebden, Max Purcell, John Peers, Hijikata and Jason Kublev have all won the men’s doubles title at Grand Slams in the past decade. But now they are doing even better in singles.
Thompson’s second-round victory over Hubert Hurkacz at the US Open was his first win over a top-10 player at a major; O’Connell knocked out No. 26 Nicolas Jarry in the first round, and Kokkinakis knocked out No. 11 and two-time Grand Slam runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round. Australia has 10 men ranked in the world’s top 100 and three – De Minaur, Popryin and Thompson – in the top 32.
The Australians are a tight-knit group and all good friends, which doesn’t hurt, especially when they’re so far from home. Hanging out together at an Australian coffee shop in Manhattan or just relaxing in the players’ lounge at Flushing Meadows, they enjoy each other’s company. And while they’re all competitive, they also encourage each other to do well.
“There’s always an Aussie who does well every week,” said Thompson, who plays Matteo Arnaldi on Saturday. “So if an Aussie does well one week, you think, ‘OK, why can’t it be my week the next week?’ That’s kind of how it is and I’m sure all the other guys feel the same way.”