Alex de Minaur will become a grand slam champion — and if it doesn’t happen in Paris this week, then Australia could be saluting a new king at its own major in Melbourne.”It’s no surprise to me he’s in the quarters,” Wilander told reporters at Roland Garros, saying he sees shades of de Minaur’s idol, Lleyton Hewitt, in the 25-year-old’s ability to squeeze every bit of improvement out of himself.
“Alex is unbelievable, his legs are stronger every time I see him. He’s a player who improves by the smallest margins, but he’s always improving.
“It’s said he doesn’t have the weapons, but nor did Lleyton Hewitt, and nor did I, honestly.”If you don’t have the weapons, you’ve got to have this, this and these,” he added, pointing to his heart, head and … lower area.
“When you have those, you’re willing to change your tactics depending on who you’re playing, rather than today’s model which is ‘I’m going to play my own game and not worry about the other person’.
“If you’re humble enough to know and understand that you can’t outhit the big hitters — for me, I couldn’t outhit (Boris) Becker or (Ivan) Lendl — then you’ve gotta do something different. Alex is learning this, it looks like to me.
