“I can only imagine him on a clay court,” revealed Alex De Minaur about Rafael Nadal in his latest interview. The Australian tennis sensation is due to play Nadal in his next match at the Barcelona Open. However, before that, De Minaur highlighted the first time that he played the 22-time Grand Slam champion on the court. He emphasized his strange feelings about walking onto Center Court to square off against his idol, Rafael Nadal, for the first time.

The Barcelona Open is not the first time that Alex De Minaur is going to face Rafael Nadal. During his career, De Minaur has played against the Spaniard four times. In his recent interview, he recalled their on-court rivalry first at Wimbledon, then at the Australian Open, once at the ATP Cup, and last at the United Cup. However, among the four, De Minaur reminisced about the first time he played against him and said, “To be honest, what got me was obviously, you watch him, right? At this stage, I had never really hit with him. So it was my first time on court with him. Obviously, playing center court at Wimbledon for the first time. It is pretty surreal.”

In 2018, 19-year-old De Minaur faced a defeat against Nadal in the third round of his Wimbledon match. However, De Minaur described an almost star-struck firsthand experience of Nadal’s powerful skills on the court. He explained how he was prepared to take an aggressive tack. He was hoping to take advantage of Nadal’s apparent vulnerabilities in his grass-court game. Alex De Minaur further added how he planned to attack Nadal’s comparatively quiet backhand and spinny forehand skills.

But very quickly, he realized that it was out of his control. “But his backhand cross and his chip were just. And obviously, he had been more aggressive on the grass, and it just felt like so much physical even on the grass,” he said. Further continuing, he added, “I can only imagine him on a clay court.”

The game ended with a score of 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. And Nadal’s winning streak against De Minaur continued for the next two times as well. However, Alex De Minaur shared his strategy that helped him overcome the “Nadal force” on the court later on.

Alex De Minaur on overcoming the “playing Rafa” stage

In 2023, Alex De Minaur first won a match against Rafael Nadal. With a score of 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the United Cup, he established himself successfully in front of his idol. Talking about his victory, De Minaur shared how he was able to change his mindset while playing against Nadal. “But it did take me a couple of times to kind of get past that “playing Rafa” stage,” he confessed during the interview.

Further adding to it, he talked about how he surpassed the psychological barrier of playing against one of the greatest tennis players of all time. “You just, like, have to almost lose all respect you have for him and just play him as another player. Because that’s not easy,” he further added.

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Alex De Minaur is all set to face Nadal for the fifth time in his career. And although he admitted his respect and admiration for the Spaniard, fans are waiting to see a fierce on-court battle once again.