‘It was a brutal decision’: Why Alex de Minaur is ditching Davis Cup

2 months ago 7

Alex de Minaur had just backed up his singles win over Jakub Mensik with a mixed doubles victory alongside Storm Hunter to seal Australia’s spot in the United Cup quarter-finals.

But as the Australian No.1 and team captain Lleyton Hewitt spoke to media afterwards, all the focus was on the team tournament he wouldn’t play after de Minaur’s name was left off the team sheet for next month’s Davis Cup qualifiers.

The 26-year-old, who has risen to No.5 on the live ATP rankings, will miss Australia’s tie against Ecuador next month having made the tough call to put self-preservation ahead of national pride.

The only Davis Cup ties de Minaur has missed since losing to 2025 Australian Open runner-up Alexander Zverev in a fifth-set tiebreaker on debut as an 18-year-old in 2018 were while sidelined with injury in 2020 and 2024.

“Over the last month I’ve been in constant communication with Lleyton and have decided that with the issues that my body given me throughout the last year, it was smartest to sit this one out,” de Minaur said.

“I’m definitely going to be available for the next one, and I’ll be cheering on the boys and super excited for that.”

A hip injury which forced him out of the Wimbledon quarter-final against Novak Djokovic in 2024 continued to plague de Minaur for most of 2025.

The prospect of a claycourt slog in Quito next month and the risk of antagonising his troublesome hip convinced de Minaur – who has his Davis Cup number, 109, tattooed over his heart – to reluctantly sit this one out.

“It was a brutal decision,” he said. “Davis Cup has been my priority for basically my whole career. And, for me, there’s no greater goal than to be able to lift the trophy one day with Lleyton, with the team, for Australia again. So that’s been a top priority of mine. We’ve gotten awfully close for a couple of years.

“My focus is just to keep on improving as a player so I can help out the team when they need me, and I’ve got full faith in all the Aussie players that are going to Ecuador.”

Australia last year failed to qualify for the Davis Cup finals for the first time since 2021. Hewitt has named James Duckworth, Aleksander Vukic, Rinky Hijikata, Jordan Thompson and Thanasi Kokkinakis for the Ecuadro clash.

Hewitt said he and de Minaur had held lengthy discussions over whether he should participate, and were comfortable with where they landed.

“When the draw came out it was extremely tough,” Hewitt said. “Considering the time of the year, the conditions, the surface, so many variables … for me, it’s been working with Alex to not put him in a position like he was a year and a half ago and had to play injured for nine months.

“Big picture in mind, we came up with a plan that we think is the best for him moving forward.”

Hewitt also confirmed world No.50 Alexei Popyrin had made himself unavailable for selection.

“I would have loved to have called on Alexei,” Hewitt said. “Especially with his game style on clay, and the weapons he possesses. After that, obviously, we’ve gone for guys that give us a lot of depth in singles matches, but also we’ve got a couple of good doubles options among the team.

“There’s so many unknowns, though. Not many of our guys have played at that high an altitude or even close to that, so we won’t 100 per cent know the conditions until we get over there. But I feel like we’ve got plenty of choices.”

Australia will play the winner of Wednesday’s Poland-Netherlands clash in the United Cup quarter-finals on Friday.