De Minaur: “This hip is an area of concern”
Tennis Majors talks to Alex de Minaur about the injury that forced him to withdraw from Chubb UTS Hong Kong with Humansa this week
Alex de Minaur, Hong Kong 2025
Q: Alex, what's happening as we speak in Hong Kong?
A: Well, I came here to give my last chance to try and compete for this amazing UTS event here in Hong Kong. But sadly, I’m going to have to withdraw. I still have a lot of pain in my hip, which isn’t allowing me to go out there and compete. This is a tournament that I had been looking forward to for a very long time. I love this amazing city in Hong Kong, and I was very excited to play in front of some amazing fans. So I’m very disappointed.
Q: And you are the reigning champion.
Yeah, I know. It is difficult. I love this event. I think it brings out some of the best tennis in me. It suits my game style very, very much. And yeah, I’m almost like a veteran. I’ve played a lot of these events and it’s always a lot of fun. It’s different, it’s exciting, it’s fast.
Q: If I understand, you came here with doubt, with pain. You wanted to give it a last chance but your pain now at the moment is too strong to even think about making rallies and practice. Is that right?
A: Yeah, I mean that was the plan obviously. I wanted to come out and compete. That’s why we travelled here to Hong Kong. We came on site, we tried to do some work to see if I could go out there and compete but sadly it’s too much pain.
Q: It's a hip injury? Can you give a little perspective on it?
A: It’s a hip injury, the one I sustained last year after Wimbledon which sidelined me for a long time so it is an area of concern. So this is something that I can’t take any chances with. Last year it sidelined me for almost three or four months, and I played the rest of the year with pain. Now, it’s warning signs, I need to make sure everything is good. I don’t want to have the same problem as last year. I need to be smart and look after the body.
I don’t want to have the same problem as last year. I need to be smart and look after the body.
Q: When did you start to feel the injury again?
A: At the end of Beijing. It started to kind of re-aggravated it and yeah, I played through Shanghai with some painkillers to do my best to get through but I knew that something kind of was not right, right? So I was hoping that it was just, you know, maybe one bad movement and then after a couple days it was going to feel better. But as the matches went on, as the days prolonged, it kind of was sticking around, so that’s why I need to get a scan ASAP and see what’s what’s going on.
Q: So at the moment you don't know what your end of the season will look like?
A: No, exactly. I need to go get a scan. I need to see what the issue is, why I’m still getting pain and then once we kind of sit down with the team, the doctor, the medical team, we can assess what the game plan will be for the rest of the year, right? So there’s a lot of question marks, a lot of uncertainty, so I’ve got to kind of wait and see, play the waiting game.
Q: If the season had to stop today, of course it's not our wish, but if it had to stop, would it have been a good season for you?
A: Yeah, I think it would have been a good season. Of course, I broke some of my own records. I managed to get 50 wins in a year, which is a great achievement. I’ve put myself in good positions again to compete for the end of the bigger tournaments. I’m currently in the top 10 so it would have been a lot of good results in this season of course. I would hope that it doesn’t end right here right now and I can still kind of continue and push for a little bit longer but I think I’m definitely improving, developing and every year seem to be getting better and better which is a good thing.
Q: The point I guess now is to try to be ready for the ATP Finals and eventually the Grand Final of UTS?
A: 100% of course and that’s the goal now to be ready for ATP Finals and the grand final of UTS. As I said, I’m the reigning champ and I want to be back. It was so much fun last year being able to lift that trophy. UTS events are completely different to anything you have out there on tour, so it creates a very special and cool feeling when you’re on court. You’ve got music playing, the crowd, your coach – it just creates a really cool environment and vibe. It brings out some of my best tennis. So I’m looking forward to being there.
Q: You know why it brings you the best tennis? Is it the rules? Is it the mood? What is it?
A: I don’t know, I think the rules of the game suit me and my game style in a way that I feel like I’m very good at playing every single point, right? And I kind of don’t get, doesn’t matter what the score is, I’m always going to compete and I’m always going to try every point. I feel like thanks to having that intensity and focus, it helps me against a lot of the players that might lose their focus a little bit. I feel like in UTS if you lose your focus for you know three four points you can lose the quarter right and that’s super important here.
I think that the one serve it creates even the atmosphere, the environment, right? I like the noise, I like hearing the music, I like interacting with the fans. It brings out a different side of me which normally when you see me I’m very kind of focused and I don’t give too much emotion. But here in UTS I feel like I can express myself and give out that emotion to the fans.
Q: What is your message to the UTS fans in Hong Kong?
A: My message to the amazing fans of Hong Kong is to stay tuned for an incredible Chubb UTS Hong Kong with Humansa. Why do I say this? Because I’ve played this event many, many times and it is one of the funnest events for me on tour. I know that the crowd loves it. There’s going to be energy. There’s going to be music, drinks, free flowing, excitement. Everything happens so quickly, right? And you don’t really miss anything.
As a player, you get to see the most exciting version of themselves. You get to see emotion. You get to hear the conversations that you have with the coach to try and break down your opponent tactically. You’ve got the UTS cards, there’s always something happening, right? So, as a player, we love it. It brings out some of the best energy in us and also the singles court, right? The amount of hot shots that you get to see on this amazing singles court and it’s… You don’t see it anywhere else.
My message is: I’m sorry that I’m not competing but you guys need to come out here and enjoy an amazing event. You won’t be disappointed by any means. It is so much energy, so much excitement. I cannot explain to you until you guys see it for yourself. So stay tuned, watch the amazing event and enjoy the crazy, crazy tennis and rallies.
