Sydney, Australia, 24 December 2024 | Vivienne Christie

As Alex de Minaur makes an annual trip home to Australia each summer, happy memories forged in a favourite tennis setting come flooding back.

The top-ranked Australian, who partly fine-tuned his talent at the Sydney International Tennis Centre as a rising junior, has amassed many career-defining milestones at Ken Rosewall Arena.

From his first ATP-level final at the Sydney International at age 18 in 2018, to wins over then-higher-ranked opponents Matteo Berrettini, Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev in beloved team settings, De Minaur appreciates it’s a court that can bring out his best.

“I’m extremely excited to be here in this arena, Ken Rosewall Arena, playing in front of family and friends. I think it’s an unbelievable atmosphere,” the 25-year-old smiled at his self-described “favourite court” as he prepared to contest the 2025 United Cup at the venue on Monday.

“Every time Australia plays here, it’s something that I’ve been looking forward to ever since we’ve been we were announced to play here in Sydney.”

Fan support is almost certainly guaranteed for the passionate green-and-gold representative, who already boasts a proud United Cup history. De Minaur’s debut in the inaugural competition two years ago featured a come-from-behind victory over prolific Spaniard Nadal.

His eye-turning performance at last year’s United Cup was even more impressive, featuring upsets over Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic (marking his first victory over a world No.1 opponent) and Zverev as he led the host nation to the semifinals.

Within that team high there was a milestone individual one, with De Minaur subsequently celebrating his top-10 rankings debut.

“I think it was extremely important obviously for confidence, for using it as a springboard,” he commented. “Taking my game into a different level and also cracking the top 10 [was] one of those milestone moments that was really important for me.

“I think I was able to use the confidence that I gathered in in the first week of the year and basically have my best year. It was obviously a very important week for me.”

AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺 #UnitedCup pic.twitter.com/Vo2fsvXUvQ

— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) December 20, 2024

The career-best season saw De Minaur lift at in Acapulco and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, and progress to the quarterfinal stage at three of the four Grand Slams. He peaked at world No.6 in July.

Despite a serious hip injury that saw him sidelined for weeks at a time in the second half of the season, a dogged De Minaur maintained his top-10 ranking and at world No.9, made his ATP Finals debut.

De Minaur is relishing his return to Australia’s United Cup team for a third straight season, which sees the host nation drawn to face Argentina on 28 December and Great Britain on 1 January in the round-robin stages.

“I’m looking forward to getting started playing matches” said De Minaur. “Obviously from Argentina, playing (Tomas Martin) Etcheverry and from GB, probably Billy Harris. So I’m looking forward to getting started [and] and hopefully getting some wins for my country.

“For us, Aussies starting the year at home in front of our home crowd, which is by far the best crowd in the world, is extremely exciting – I think not just myself, but every Aussie is extremely looking forward to this Australian summer and hopefully we can all put on some great performances and play some of our best tennis.”

Adding to the feel-good factor for De Minaur this summer is his engagement to fellow player Katie Boulter, with the popular tennis couple announcing the news on social media on Monday.

Love always wins! Congrats Katie and Alex 💍😍 pic.twitter.com/HsEfYvFJU5

— United Cup (@UnitedCupTennis) December 23, 2024

For the second straight season, De Minaur and Boulter, a Brit, will feature on opposing United Cup teams – a potentially awkward situation that the Australian faces with characteristic good humour.

“You know it is the luck of the draw,” he said. “And here we are again. At least we’re in Sydney.”

And from his favourite stadium, De Minaur is considering some heady possibilities. “I’ve had my best year to date, but at the same time I’m not satisfied with that. I want more. I want to keep pushing myself (and) one day finish my career knowing that I gave the absolute max and everything I could do to be the best possible tennis player,” he commented.

“That’s still the goal. Still pushing, still trying for more. Trying to work hard. Get better and keep tweaking parts of my game to hopefully get those results.”

Tennis turned up! United Cup tickets are available through Ticketmaster.