
On Tuesday Lleyton Hewitt will play his first competitive match on a clay court since 2015, but the most interesting part about his latest return concerns his doubles partner.
Alex de Minaur is 18 years younger than his Australian mentor. At the age of 19 he has already reached back-to-back ATP semifinals and recently reached the final of a Challenger event in Alicante, Spain. Currently ranked 111th in the world, he moved closer towards the top 100 on Monday with a comprehensive first round win at the Estoril Open. Taking on home favourite Gastao Elias, he powered to a 6-1, 6-3, win. Earning his maiden tour-level victory on the clay.
“I played a very high level match against a high level opponent, especially on clay. There were tricky conditions out there. I just tried to weather the storm early, I was able to win a lot of those long points and I stayed solid through that first set. The the last set I was able to play better tennis so I’m very happy with my level,” De Minaur said after the match.
The performance drew praise from his opponent Elias. A 27-year-old Portuguese player that has been ranked as high as 57th in the world. Following his loss, Elias tipped the youngster to be the next big thing in Australian tennis.
Gastão Elias: 'Alex de Minaur is a fantastic player. I believe he's gonna be the next Lleyton Hewitt, or even better' #EstorilOpen pic.twitter.com/8jIUyRO6LF
— Millennium #EstorilOpen (@EstorilOpen) April 30, 2018
The comparisons between de Minaur and Hewitt are inevitable. Hewitt is the youngest player in the Open Era to reach No.1 at the age of 20. A stark contrast to his fellow countryman, whose best performance to date is reaching the final of the Sydney International in January.
Hewitt has played a pivotal role in de Minaur’s development. Providing guidance and advice to the rising star. Earlier this year he selected de Minaur to make his Davis Cup debut against Germany. Which saw him take Alexander Zverev to five sets before losing in a decisive tiebreaker.
“Alex is pretty special, he’s a good kid. I enjoy working with him, giving him some knowledge.” Said Hewitt.
Gunning for his third ATP quarter-final of the season, De Minaur faces Kyle Edmund in the second round. The British world No.23 relishes the clay season and recently reached the final of the Marrakech Open in Morocco.
“I know Kyle and I’ve trained with him a lot. He has a very high quality tennis so my next round will be a very tough match, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to leave it all out there and we’ll see what happens at the end of the day,” De Minaur evaluated about his opponent.
Prior to his second round clash, de Minaur will kick-off his doubles campaign with the former world No.1. The pair will take on second seeds Michael Venus and Ravel Klassen.