De Minaur Has Team World on the Brink of victory

Andre Agassi’s faith in Alex De Minaur has paid dividends at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The 26-year-old Aussie posted singles and doubles triumphs on Day 2, and he remained unbeaten on Day 3 with a 6-3, 6-4 dispatch of Jakub Mensik, as Team World pulled to within a point on its third Laver Cup title, ahead 12-6.

It marked De Minaur’s third victory over Mensik in as many head-to-heads, including a 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 quarterfinal turnaround earlier this year on clay in Madrid.

“I’m glad that I was able to get a couple of wins for the team this weekend,” said De Minaur. “It’s great to see the energy from the whole team. There were some tough moments out there. I definitely locked eyes with my team, dug deep, and this one’s for them. I’m very happy.”

The eighth-ranked De Minaur came into the match with a tour-best 30 hard-court victories on the year, highlighted by his 10th career title in Washington, where he saved three championship points against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He is playing in his second Laver Cup after making his 2022 debut in London, where he defeated Andy Murray to help Team World to its first win over Team Europe.

De Minaur found an opening in the first set when Mensik dumped what appeared to be a routine forehand volley into the net, the resulting service break giving the Sydneysider a 4-2 edge. An untimely double fault from Mensik serving at 3-all in the second set, would set up a break point for De Minaur, who made good on his opportunity when his opponent sent a forehand beyond the baseline. De Minaur was down 0-40 serving for the match at 5-4, but saved all three break points to close it out.

How did he stay focused?

“Just one points at a time,” said De Minaur with a smile. “I’m so used to fighting off break points on my serve. I do that for a living. I’m not a ‘bot’ like some of the players in Team World.”

Particularly devastated by his quarterfinal loss to Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime earlier this summer at the US Open, De Minaur’s performance this weekend has done wonders to reset his year, a tangible reminder of the level he can bring when he commits to his game plan.

“One hundred percent,” he said. “I took this as a big opportunity to take a step in the right direction and play the type of tennis that I want to be playing ultimately. I’ve had a couple of tough losses where I’ve had lots of regrets. That wasn’t easy to deal with. A little change in mindset, kind of backing myself and playing the way I want to play, that clarity has been very important from the very first point to the last. It’s definitely the way I want to be playing.”

The former world No. 2 junior Mensik broke into the Top 100 in February, earning a career-high No.16 after claiming his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Miami.