After Tokyo despair, De Minaur eyes 'special' Olympic debut in Paris
Alex De Minaur’s desire to feature for Australia at the Olympic Tennis Event this July is perhaps greater than most.
Not only does he bleed green and gold and find another gear while competing for his country, the 25-year-old will be extra motivated by the opportunity to take part in his first Games after cruelly missing out on making his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.
“Going to the Olympics, I think that’s one of the dreams as a young kid,” admitted De Minaur. “[It’s] one of those milestone moments, check the box, that type of moment. I’d love to be there. It will be very special to be there, for sure.”
De Minaur tested positive for Covid on the eve of the Tokyo 2020 Games and was forced to miss the event at the last moment – a memory that continues to linger.
“It was brutal, I’m not going to lie,” reflected De Minaur. “I was very excited for that moment. I thought I was playing some great tennis. I got dealt a rough hand and had to miss it, so it was quite shattering.
“I’ve heard so many good stories about the Olympics and how it’s life changing. It would be amazing to experience it for myself, not only to hopefully do well in my sport but to be able to support my fellow countrymen and other athletes in different sports will be a lot of fun.”
"I got dealt a rough hand and had to miss [Tokyo 2020] - it was quite shattering"
That Paris 2024 will be held at Roland Garros (on 27 July - 4 August) doesn’t necessarily work in De Minaur’s favour on paper – the world No. 11 has never been beyond the second round in Paris having reached at least the round of 16 at the other three Grand Slams.
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Even so - a familiar venue for the occasion, albeit with an Olympic re-skin, can only be a positive thing.
“It will be a weird feeling [being at Roland Garros again] but ultimately it will be my first one so I don’t have too much to compare it too.
“But it will be good to play at a familiar venue and event, I’m looking forward to it.”
A sports fan, De Minaur already knows how he will spend his time away from the tennis court at the Games.
“It will be great to be in [the Olympic] environment. Get to know people, get to know their stories, how different sports work"
“I would love to see a lot of the track athletes, the swimmers, basketball… [there are] so many different sports where I’d love to meet a lot of fellow countrymen and athletes which I haven’t had the chance to,” he said.
“I think it will be great to be in that environment. Get to know people, get to know their stories, how different sports work, the intricacies of it…. I’m genuinely excited.”
De Minaur is set to lead the Australian contingent in Paris, but there could be a race amongst Australian players to raise their ranking enough to take up one of the remaining spots - with each nation able to qualify up to four athletes in each of the men's and women's singles events.
Just three Australian players currently occupy a direct acceptance spot ahead of the ranking cut-off date on 10 June - De Minaur, world No. 33 Jordan Thompson and No. 46 Alexei Popyrin, with no women currently ranked high-enough for direct entry.
Discover more about the qualification process for the Olympic Tennis Event here