The 2023 Newcombe medal has been awarded to Alex de Minaur, who not only helped Australia reach the Davis Cup final twice in a row but also achieved six top-ten finishes that helped him climb to a career-high world No. 11 ranking.
Established in 2010, the yearly prize honoring the memory of the late John Newcombe aims to honor the accomplishments of Australian tennis athletes.
For the 2018 season, Alex de Minaur and Ashleigh Barty, the former WTA world No. 1 player, shared the Newcombe medal.
De Minaur expressed his feelings about achieving this feat and said: “It’s been a great year, not only for myself but for all of Australian tennis and I think we should be very proud indeed. It’s been a joy to watch and a joy to be a part of. I think we’ve got a strong 2024 coming and hopefully, we can do even better than we did this year.”
He added: “It’s just amazing to see what Australian tennis has done this year. To be able to see the results, all the fellow teammates go out there and play some of their best tennis.”
Although he was more comfortable encouraging his fellow countrymen, he gave an overview of his own goals for 2024.
He talked about this in the interview and said: “I think it’s no secret that I want to be with the best players in the world. You know, breaking into the top 10 is going to be a big goal of mine. I know it’s going to be tough. I’m quite close, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Hopefully, I can knuckle down, have a good start to the Australian summer, and put myself in a good position to break that barrier.”
2x Newcombe Medallist 😈
Peaking at a career-high world No.11 this year, @alexdeminaur recorded six top-ten wins, captured his biggest career title at Acapulco, and played a starring role in helping Australia progress to back-to-back Davis Cup finals.#Newks23 pic.twitter.com/6ESHCOKCQs
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) December 11, 2023
Alex De Minaur in 2023
Now the world no.12, De Minaur played his last match on the 26th of November when he was overcome by world no.4 Jannik Sinner 6-3 6-0 in the Rubber 2 of the Davis Cup (draw).
At present, during this year the Australian has managed to achieve a composed 46-26 record. De Minaur clinched 1 title in Acapulco. The Australian was the finalist in London, Los Cabos and Toronto.
