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The secrets of Alex de Minaur’s incredible fitness: 'The work never stops'

Such is the fitness of Alex de Minaur that anyone who tries to keep up with him in his training sessions tends to get sick, injured or, in the best-case scenario, incredibly frustrated. His team, including physio Emilio Poveda, can attest to that.

“In the last preseason, on court in Monaco, his coach Adolfo [Gutierrez] ran a 30-metre sprint against him. Not to try and beat him, because that’s impossible, but just to give Alex something to think about,” remembers Poveda, physio and physical education graduate from the University of Valencia. “Adolfo pulled his hamstring. It wasn’t serious, but it took him a few weeks to recover.”

Poveda has also had first-hand experience of trying to keep pace with De Minaur. Even though the physio keeps himself fit all year, and despite having trained more intensely purely so he could give Alex some company as he does his exercises, Poveda ended up in the sick bay.

“Now we have a second fitness coach on the team, Fran, a friend of mine. We tag each other in to join Alex. When we do series, for example, one person runs one part, and the other one does the next. Alex still beats us,” added Poveda. “The other day I did series of 400 with him and I didn’t feel well the next day. I was sick for a week. He’s injuring all of us!”

_{^{Alex de Minaur and his physio Emilio Poveda in Miami. Photo courtesy of Emilio Poveda}}

The No. 11 in the PIF ATP Rankings, De Minaur is one of the fittest players to have competed on the ATP Tour in recent times. He is extraordinarily fast, resistant and explosive, can jump the same height with both legs, and recovers extremely quickly after a shot, a rally, a match, or a weeks-long swing of the Tour... the list goes on.

What does this look like on paper? In a speed and agility test called the T-Test, De Minaur’s numbers do not even compare with most of his peers. “It’s 10 metres forwards, five metres from one side to the other,” explained Poveda. “Alex is under 10 seconds, almost nine. So far, we’re yet to find another player who comes near our numbers.”

Much of that excellence is innate. But most of it is due to the hard work and dedication of the 10th seed at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

“Fitness training has been very important in my career, above all in the last four or five years. It’s a lot of work that I do almost every day of my life,” said De Minaur. “The work never stops and that’s the only way to improve. You don’t only get better by improving your technique on the practice court.”

Even on days when he is not in the mood and his body is asking for a break, the 26-year-old right-hander always finds a way to achieve his goals.

“When he’s struggling with it, he still performs. I remember two years ago he was going hell for leather, and he was feeling dizzy,” recalled Poveda. “I joked ‘Alex, you’re too delicate’. But he managed to continue easily. He’s able to suffer in training because he doesn’t want to on court. That’s why he says he’s never as out of breath during points as he is when we do intense anaerobic exercises.”

The determination that prevents De Minaur from throwing in the towel when things are tough has helped him to improve the very physical attributes that made him vulnerable in the past.

“When I joined the Tour, I only weighed 67, 68 kilos. Obviously, that wasn’t sustainable if I was to reach the top,” said De Minaur, who now weighs in at almost 76 kilograms. “That’s why I had to get stronger, while also trying not to lose the consistency and speed or even the engine to play long matches.”

Today, the Australian still does not appear as muscular as some of his peers, but that only makes the power he is capable of unleashing all the more astonishing.

“I’ve taken some of my pupils to train with Alex, but they can’t match his numbers,” said Poveda. “There is an exercise he does lying face down and you have to push up with the knee bent, and you measure it with a dynamometer. It’s very difficult to generate a lot of force with your gluteus maximus. Alex has managed 90 kilos. It’s so hard to do that.”

His superior fitness will be vital as he takes on his next opponent, fast-rising #NextGenATP Brazilian Joao Fonseca, in the third round at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

“I’m very fit now, very happy with how my body is. Obviously, the plan is to have a physical battle, right?” said Alex of his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with the 18-year-old Fonseca. “We’ll see how the match goes. He’ll be dangerous, but I can’t wait to play against him.”

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es