How Alex de Minaur’s 43 hard court victories added up to a great achievement | ATP tour | Tennis

Scorecards

How the 43 victories on De Minaur’s hard court together formed a top match

Aussie says two key approaches give him an edge over hard
January 22, 2026

During the Australian Open, ATPTour.com will give fans insight into the leaders of key statistical categories, showing how performances in 2025 all contributed to successful seasons and the promise of more good times in 2026.

Australian Alex de Minaur was a force on the hard court in 2025, racking up 43 victories on tour and smashing his previous benchmarks on the surface.

One of the fastest players on Tour, De Minaur suffocates his opponents from the baseline with his blistering court coverage, spotless ball striking and ruthless tenacity. His perseverance was on full display at the ATP 500 in Washington, DC, where he dramatically saved three championship points to defeat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

After his first-round victory at the Australian Open, De Minaur said two tactics to take time away from opponents have underpinned his success on hard courts: flat groundstrokes and playing close to the baseline.

“My shots on both sides are on the flatter side, which means the ball slips through a bit when it hits the court. If the ball comes back to your opponent faster and faster, it usually doesn’t allow him to think,” De Minaur said.

“I’ve always felt like I’ve been able to use my speed to get back and play defense, but one of the biggest things that has helped me take that next step is using my speed to take time away from my opponents and that’s where field positioning is super important.

“It’s a lot harder than when I’m standing a few meters behind the baseline and my ball is slow and loopy and my opponent has all the time in the world to generate and hit winners past me, especially with the way the guys are hitting the ball these days. When they have time, they crack the ball. So I do my best not to give my opponents time.”

De Minaur’s hard court record, last three seasons

De Minaur’s victory in Washington DC marked his tenth title at tour level, eight of which have been won on hard courts. In addition to his other notable hard court results in 2025, the 26-year-old reached the quarter-finals at both the Australian Open and US Open. He was a finalist in Rotterdam and semi-finalist in Beijing and Vienna.

While De Minaur recorded the most hard court match wins last season, Jannik Sinner had the highest winning percentage on the surface (92.9 percent, 39-3 match record). Sinner won five of his six titles on hard courts in 2025, including the Australian Open and the Nitto ATP Finals in his home country of Italy. De Minaur finished fifth in winning percentage on hard courts last season, behind Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Hard court winning percentage 2025

View all stories in this series

Visit our Infosys ATP Stats section for more insights.