Alex de Minaur Breaks Down How to Beat Jannik Sinner

Alex de Minaur had a season that most tennis players could only dream of enjoying. The ATP World No. 7 had a singles record of 56-24 with one singles title.

However, like almost every other player on the planet, de Minaur cannot break through against Jannik Sinner. On Saturday, Sinner defeated de Minaur in the semifinals of the 2025 ATP Finals: 7-5, 6-2.

After yesterday's loss, de Minaur has lost all 13 of his matches against Sinner. Yet, the 26-year-old still believes he has what it takes to defeat Sinner. He even posited a theory on how to execute the game plan.

"That's a tough question"

A reporter complimented de Minaur for his performance but asked if his highest level of play was enough. The Australian star defended his play, "I mean, that's a tough question to ask someone. Because it kind of sounds like my best is not good enough in your eyes.

I have won sets against Jannik in the past. So, I'm going to say that, yeah, there was a lot of good stuff in that first set. I think one of the key elements was I dropped my percentage of first serve in the crucial stages, which allowed him to jump on top of me in that five-ball game, and he came up with some pretty good shots as well."

"I know how to beat him."

Then, de Minaur explained how to beat Sinner. "So, I played him many, many times, and even though a lot of people may not think so, I know how to beat him. It's just not that easy to do, right? You got to hit the ball very hard, very flat, very deep, and very close to the line.

So it is something that I try to do, but obviously it's not the easiest thing to do, and I do think for me to have genuine chances, I need to serve well throughout the whole match, and my serve dropped a little bit and could have been better," concluded de Minaur.

"I haven't hit my peak yet."

When asked about the upcoming 2026 season, de Minaur struck an optimistic tone. "I still think that I've got more to give. I haven't hit my peak just yet. I've also got to be careful with how much I push myself and how much pressure I put on myself because that's what gets me into dark places. The desire to keep on improving and keep on wanting more and expecting more. I've got to find a healthy balance."

He added, "As we've seen kind of in the past two matches, I do have the ability to play with a higher pace and more aggressive style tennis. I do think this is what needs to come out to beat the best players in the world."

The 2025 ATP Finals concludes today with the championship match between Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.

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