“Keep knocking on doors”: Cash tells de Minaur to keep believing in his open dream

Cash said de Minaur was the type of player you wanted fighting for his life and admired how he continued to develop his game.

“His speed, determination and mental focus are exceptional,” Cash said.

“His backhand is also very good, his forehand is also good and he volleys as well as anyone on the circuit. If I were his coach, I would adjust his serve. It has to do with the spin. I’m a bit of a serve geek.”

De Minaur lost his first United Cup match of the year to the aforementioned Ruud, but responded with contrasting but equally impressive wins over Czech Jakub Menšík and Pole Hubert Hurkacz.

“I feel good. I feel excited. Obviously it’s getting closer and closer until AO starts and I’m hitting the ball great and the body feels good,” de Minaur said.

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“I’m excited about what’s going to be here in Melbourne, hopefully for a long time.”

“The United Cup was great. I was able to play a few competitive games so I’m very pleased with how I bounced back after my opening game and was able to find my stride and find my game and beat two very good opponents in the end.”

De Minaur will be hoping not to have two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner on his side of the draw, having not beaten the Italian superstar in 13 attempts, but he does not plan to watch Thursday’s draw ceremony.

“I’ve never been one to watch the draw. I don’t want to see it done,” he said.

“When it’s done, I’ll let my team know who I’m playing in the first round, and that’s pretty much all I want to know because that’s all I care about.

“Then I’m sure we’ll go through the press conferences and I’ll be told my whole planned draw, from the very first game to the last, but I’ll do my best to stay in the moment and take it slow.”

Some of Australia’s top players have struggled to cope with the expectation of being a contender for a domestic Grand Slam, but de Minaur said he was handling the pressure well.

“I’m excited to play here in Australia. At this point, I don’t associate playing here in Australia with being nervous,” he said.

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“I associate it with the excitement of playing in front of my home crowd. I don’t get the chance to do that very often. So the opportunity to start the year here is quite exciting for me and I’m really looking forward to it.

“There’s nothing I want to do more than play well in Australia and give an amazing crowd something to cheer about… I’ve dreamed of going deep and winning this tournament since I was a little boy.”

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