Rising star De Minaur expanding horizons

The sky is the limit despite a first-round Australian Open loss for 18-year-old star Alex de Minaur, who catapulted himself into the limelight this summer.

Alex de Minaur.

Teen prodigy Alex de Minaur isn't sweating a first-round Open exit after a January to remember. (AAP)

Alex de Minaur will reassess his year ahead given a successful Australian summer which came to an end at Melbourne Park.

The 18-year-old prodigy was beaten in the first round of the Australian Open by Tomas Berdych in four sets.

De Minaur battled valiantly with the well-credentialled Czech, falling away to lose 6-3 3-6 6-0 6-1, and understandably so when you consider his previous fortnight.

The unheralded youngster, who is being mentored by Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, already has six wins over top-50 opponents this season.

They include Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic, Fernando Verdasco, Benoit Paire and Steve Johnson.

It's why he couldn't be too upset to leave the Open at the first hurdle.

"Those wins and these couple of weeks now have made me realise that I've got the level, and now I've just got to maintain it day after day," he said.

"That's something I've been really proud of myself throughout the whole Australian summer.

"I've been able to back up good matches. I don't think I've had a bad match this summer. I'm happy with that."

Unless tournament organisers - like in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne - extend wildcards his way, de Minaur will be back to the grind next month.

He started the year as the world No.208, jumping to 127 after Sydney - but will actually fall after the Open courtesy of a second-round result last year.

It doesn't matter to the Sydneysider, who only has one younger player - world No.50 Denis Shapovalov - above him in the world rankings

"I'm going to have to sit with my team and go through my schedule, see what's the best tournaments for me, what looks right," he said.

"It's crazy. I honestly can't wait.

"It was a tough one today, but can't wait to get back out there on court, just get better."

That will include a stint with Australia's Davis Cup team, drawn to play Germany in Brisbane in early February.

"I can't wait for that ... those are just incredible weeks, to be a part of just the squad," he said.

"Just hanging around Nick (Kyrgios), Thanasi (Kokkinakis), Jordan (Thompson), all these guys. Then you have Lleyton, Stolz (Jason Stoltenberg), Rochey (Tony Roche) ... I try to learn everything I can when I'm with these guys, with these legends even."


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Source: AAP



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