De Minaur ends year with victory in Ultimate Tennis Showdown

Alex de Minaur has wrapped up his landmark year with one last illuminating and lucrative triumph in an all-singing, all-dancing rock ‘n’ roll version of the sport at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) grand final in London.

Played in front of a noisy full-house at the old Olympic Copper Box Arena in east London with lights flashing and music blasting out, de Minaur seemed inspired to deliver some of his best stuff as he defeated Danish star Holger Rune in the final of the eight-man tournament on Sunday.

Played over four eight-minute quarters with only one serve per point and barely any time between points, de Minaur appeared to thrive in the abbreviated version of the game as he won all five of his matches over three days.

Swearing that the format, packed with pressure points, was perfect to help him in his preparations for the Australian Open in the new year, he may also have had his head somewhat turned by earning a small fortune for his week’s work — total prize money of 625,000 British pounds ($1.2 million).

Over the three days, de Minaur had beaten Rune 3-1, Jan-Lennard Struff 3-1 and Alexander Bublik 3-1 in the group stages, before defeating veteran Gael Monfils 3-1 in Sunday’s semifinal, before an even more conclusive 3-0 win (13-8, 14-11, 16-10) over the Dane in the showdown.

“It definitely has been the best season yet, but I don’t think it’s going to be the best season of my career,” de Minaur said.

“So I want to keep on improving. I want to keep on getting better and use everything that I learned this year to put it towards 2025, and hopefully bigger and better things.”

Even though it was really an exhibition event, at one point de Minaur picked up his dropped racquet at the back of the court and still managed to win a point against Monfils.

It was a moment that seemed to show the Australian refreshed and pain-free after recent travails with the hip problem that’s dogged him since Wimbledon.