Australian Tennis Magazine - April/May 2024

14 TOP OF THE CLASS

As Alex de Minaur and other Australians hit new career heights, they're not only proving quality players but quality people too.

FEATURES

22 HONESTLY AUTHENTIC

Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka reflects on her career, her biggest motivations, and the legacy she hopes to leave.

30 STAR RISING

After a sizzling start to season 2024, ascendant Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk is powering towards her top-10 goals.

26 THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

An impressive group of young players are emerging at precisely the moment tennis needs them, poised to take the sport to a compelling new place.

48 THE COACH APPROACH

Mid-match coaching is now allowed on tour, creating varying approaches and outlooks on how it is implemented.

68 WHERE COMPETITION MEETS COMMUNITY

Victorian Country Week is the world’s largest grass-court tournament and a stunning celebration of community.

72 A TALE OF TENNIS TREASURE

More than 100 years since a priceless piece of Davis Cup history was created, a special memento arrived at Melbourne Park. 6

18 GAME AND GRATITUDE

A return to top form was helped by a journey of self-discovery for a deeply grateful Grigor Dimitrov.

42 LESSONS FOR LIFE

The biggest gains in tennis aren’t always on a scoreboard – the world’s top players show how the qualities developed in high-stakes competition can provide skills that serve them for life.

THE COURT as a Classroom

It’s a phrase you’ll hear o en as the stars of tennis discuss their development on the professional tours: they don’t simply aim to improve as players, but constantly aspire to become better people too. It shows how the lessons in tennis are also lessons for life.

The foundation that the sport can provide for future successes is highlighted by the many players who’ve developed impressive careers beyond their time on tour. From business to politics, social endeavours to entertainment – and of course, other areas of tennis – it shows that the wide-ranging skills developed in the game are deeply entrenched.

Many of those qualities are evident in the Australian stars who’ve hit exciting new heights

in recent months. Passion, adaptability and a degree of courage have all featured in Alex de Minaur’s top-10 breakthrough, as has his commitment to sheer hard work.

“I think once you’ve get to the high levels of the sport, it’s not really about one change. It’s about the little one percenters that end up making a di erence,” he commented as he soared up the rankings last year. “I’m always trying to keep improving, keep bettering myself and keep taking the next step forward.”

Storm Hunter and Matt Ebden have showcased similar dedication in their respective climbs to become world No.1 doubles players. For Jordan Thompson, perseverance was the key to claiming a maiden ATP singles title at age 29.

Other players are achieving

stunning longevity through important journeys of selfdiscovery. As the evergreen Grigor Dimitrov told us in an exclusive interview during his title-winning run at the recent Brisbane International, “when you play every week, when you travel every year, you learn so many important things.”

Victoria Azarenka was equally illuminating as she chatted with Leigh Rogers about her evolution into one of the game’s most enduring characters. “What helps me, at least as an athlete, is that determination to improve, to get better, to work on my cra , (and) remain disciplined so in other areas of my life, I can apply those tools,” she said.

The commitment to growth, and strong personal values, makes those players obvious role models. We’re delighted to

feature them in this specially themed “life lessons” issue of the magazine.

As we went to print, news emerged of the sudden death of Konstantin Koltsov, the former partner of Aryna Sabalenka. Our deep condolences go out to the two-time Australian Open champion, who features prominently in this edition.

Pro-playing colleagues were quick to rally around the muchadmired Sabalenka, who bravely opted to proceed with her Miami Open campaign.

It was a poignant reminder that the qualities developed on a court are transferable to many areas beyond tennis – and most importantly, that it’s the personal qualities that count the most.

Vivienne Christie editor@tennismag.com.au

TOP CLASS of the

As they surge to new heights on their respective tours, Alex de Minaur, Storm Hunter and their Aussie counterparts are not only proving themselves as quality players, but quality people too.

By VIVIENNE CHRISTIE

Ssemi nal progress against Jack Draper, before a straight-sets win against Casper Ruud in the championship match.

peed and athleticism have long been the trademarks for Alex de Minaur. Competing on the highstakes tour against powerful opponents who are typically at least several centimetres taller, he understood early in his career that they were the tools that could help him thrive.

speed as one of my

“I’ve learnt to adapt and get the most out of myself, there are a lot of big guys out there on tour with a lot of weapons, so for me to stay competitive I have to get the most out of myself,” he commented several years ago at the Australian Open. “I use my movement and speed as one of my best attributes.”

opponents – including his rst win over a world No.1 in

“Going into Acapulco, I probably had a different mindset than I’ve had in the past trying to defend my title. The way I looked at is that I didn’t put too much pressure on myself trying to defend that title,” reflected the 25-year-old, now a winner of eight ATP singles trophies. “I just took it very slow – day by day, match by match and before I knew it, I was playing the semifinal and final, and I played some of my best tennis to retain that title.”

While De Minaur’s usual athleticism and determination featured in the winning performance, the thoughtful Australian points to other

really good start of the year and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”

De Minaur does so with a sense of opportunity, with few rankings points to defend until the grass-court season begins in June. There, he’ll aim to improve on his best result as a Queen’s Club finalist last year, when Carlos Alcaraz claimed a straight-sets win.

With fond connections to London, where De Minaur now has a base with British girlfriend Katie Boulter, there’ll be many eyes on the increasingly popular Aussie star. But for all the attention that comes with his graduation to the game’s upper echelons, De Minaur is keeping his feet rmly on the ground.

“I’m a person that’s not easily distracted. When it comes to all

Lately, though, De Minaur is de ned by movement of another kind. In a sizzling start to the 2024 season, Australia’s top-ranked singles competitor has notched wins over four higher-ranked opponents – including his rst win over a world No.1 in Novak Djokovic – to surge into the world’s top 10.

ALEX DE MINAUR

“It’s been a game-changer for me, breaking into the top 10,” he said. “One of those milestone moments that I’ve wanted to achieve for a very long time. And you know, it’s not easy. The sheer fact that I was able to do it gave me an immense con dence and belief in myself that I am good enough to do this week-in, week-out.”

moments that I’ve wanted to

able to do it gave me an immense con dence

for the rst time in his career at the recent ATP

that had delivered the biggest title of his career the previous

qualities as the major factor in his recent rise. “I think the biggest di erence in my game and myself has been at the start of this year I had a real kind of mindset change,” he reasoned of a period that included wins over Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev and a nals run in Rotterdam.

“It’s been a game-changer for me, breaking into the top 10.”

“I really told myself that if I wanted to beat the top guys in the world, I had to have that aggressive mindset and just go out there and take it to these top guys. Because in the past, I’ve kind of relied on my speed and my movement and that won me a lot of matches over the years, but I wasn’t able to crack open against the very best in the world.

these things, it doesn't really change too much for me,” he good-naturedly responded when asked how he’s managing the spotlight ahead of Australian Open 2024. “I mean, my goals are plain and simple, and that's to win tennis matches and do my best on the court. All the preparations, they all stay the same. My focus stays the same. I still have that drive and motivation to go out there on the tennis court and do my best.”

HUNTER’S NEW HEIGHTS

quarter nals. There was also

Another milestone – defending a title for the rst time in his career at the recent ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco – underlined the power of that self-belief. Returned to the venue that had delivered the biggest title of his career the previous year, a plucky De Minaur claimed a rst win in 11 matches against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter nals. There was also

In 2023, she combined with Belgium’s Elise Mertens to claim doubles titles at WTA are

“Nowadays, everyone hits the ball so damn hard that you’ve got to take it to these guys and really be aggressive and show a lot of the variety that I’ve always had in my game, but I haven’t always shown on the court. So it’s been a

Storm Hunter is equally driven in her quest to achieve new career milestones. After an agonising period when it seemed a serious shoulder injury would force her to abandon pro tennis dreams, the left-hander is now enjoying the most sparkling form of her career.

GRIGOR DIMITROV

GRATITUDE with

A return to top form was helped by a journey of self-discovery for a deeply grateful Grigor Dimitrov.

By VIVIENNE CHRISTIE

Amid the many demands of his professional playing life, Grigor Dimitrov has a ritual he likes to complete. At the end of the day, he o en lists three things that provide him with gratitude – and there’s been much of that lately for the most successful Bulgarian player in history.

“It helps me a lot with so many di erent things,” Dimitrov told Australian Tennis Magazine of his considered process.

“I think at the stage where I’m at in my career, I think with each year that has gone by I’m more appreciative of anything that I get not only to do (on court) but (also) in life.”

It’s an outlook that’s provided a perfect complement to the stylish all-court tennis that’s delivered Dimitrov with numerous rewards in his 16-plus seasons on tour. A winner of nine ATP singles titles and more than USD $25 million prize money, he peaked at world No.3 in 2017 and has surged back up the rankings in a glorious late-career revival.

Following a rst ATP nals appearance since 2018 at Geneva last May, the 32-yearold progressed to the second week of Roland Garros and

Wimbledon. He stunned world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz on his way to the Shanghai Masters semi nals and with upset wins over Daniil Medvedev, Hubert Hurkacz and Stefanos Tsitsipas, nished runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the Paris Masters.

“I was thrilled with the way I was playing throughout the whole tournament. A lot of good wins, a lot of positive wins,” said Dimitrov, who capped 2023 at world No.14, his highest yearend ranking in six years. “I need to stay positive and keep on believing that things will come out for me.”

Those highs came quickly as Dimitrov launched his 2024 season with a return to the winner’s circle at the Brisbane International, where a nals victory over No.1 seed Holger Rune delivered his rst ATP title since 2017.

He’d also li ed the trophy in the Queensland capital seven years earlier, providing a pleasing measure of the progress in the period since. “I want to say I’m a better player now,” beamed Dimitrov, who has since contested a 19th career nal in Rotterdam (where Ugo Humbert was crowned champion) and returned to No.12 in the rankings.

It was progress helped by a key change in Dimitrov’s coaching team. After splitting with coach Dante Bottini late in 2022, he employed the highly regarded Jamie Delgado and also reunited with former coach Daniel Vallverdu.

Delgado, who’d previously guided Andy Murray to a second Wimbledon triumph and the world No.1 ranking, encouraged the Bulgarian to add muscle mass and be bolder with his shot-making. Vallverdu advised that Dimitrov’s commitment to an agreed match strategy – which drew on his strengths of a big serve and his silky groundstrokes – was key. “Over the past few years, maybe he wasn’t as clear on what his game plan should be,” Vallverdu said.

From his spectacular early steps in the sport – including the Wimbledon and US Open 2008 boys’ titles and ascent to world No.1 junior ranking – to the brink of a top-10 return at age 32, Dimitrov now takes pride in his enduring in uence in the game’s upper echelons.

At the same time, he admits experience has at times been a painful teacher.

“When you play every week, when you travel every year, you

GRIGOR DIMITROV FAST FACTS

BORN: 16 May 1990, Haskovo, Bulgaria

LIVES: Monte Carlo, Monaco

CAREER PRIZE MONEY:

$25,594,250

CAREER ATP TITLES: 9 singles

CURRENT SINGLES RANKING: No.12

CAREER-HIGH SINGLES RANKING: No.3 (Nov 2017)

DID YOU KNOW? Dimitrov was revealed as the star of Lacoste’s men’s underwear campaign in January.

At

A-list events outside the sport.

learn so many di erent things but there’s a part of you that just forgets to learn life,” said the Bulgarian, who was once named as one of Europe’s most marketable athletes and has developed famous connections with the likes of soccer legend David Beckham while attending A-list events outside the sport.

“I had a lot of di erent things happening to me over the years, on and o the court. I almost felt at times things were hand-inhand and I just really wanted to

“I’ve always been very authentic in who I am.”

VICTORIA AZARENKA

VICTORIA AZARENKA

HONESTLY Authentic

Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka sat down with LEIGH ROGERS to reflect on her career, her biggest motivations, and the legacy she hopes to leave.

Life is busy for Victoria Azarenka. As well as juggling motherhood and her commitments as a long-serving member of the WTA Players’ Council, she remains an on-court force.

The enduring 34-year-old, one of the oldest women currently in the world's top 40, spoke to Australian Tennis Magazine about a range of topics in this exclusive interview.

ATM: You have recorded some of your career-best results in Australia, why do you think that is?

VA: I have to say that for me, every year there’s a lot of excitement (to come back) because it’s kind of like a fresh start. I always feel good travelling to Australia, because I know I’ve been home for a while and I was able to prepare and work on my game. So, for me that always excites me.

You are the only player in the past 48 years to win both a women’s singles and a girls’ singles title at the Australian Open. How would you describe what the tournament means to you?

I would say excitement is one of the top words I would use, and I can’t not say that the crowd is really fun. I feel like Australia really loves sport, they really appreciate sport, and I feel like with Ash Barty especially it has kind of rejuvenated tennis in Australia. People got even more pumped and it’s beautiful to see. Hopefully it inspires more future generations of Australians to play and to succeed, because that’s how we’re going to grow the global sport if we have local players stepping up and global players stepping up as well.

but you know what you’re capable of. So, anything below that to me is not good enough and I think that drive and that competitiveness of wanting to be the best is what drives me to play and improve and really work hard. I never play to play average. For me, being in the quarter nals or semi nals, it’s a good result but it’s not the goal. So, I really want to make sure I prepare myself and I train hard to compete for titles.

somebody previously, I would de nitely be much more excited to get revenge.

When people talk about your career, the narrative is o en around your return as a mother. But you have also been very vocal in discussing mental health. Did you intend to become a trailblazer on these fronts?

Has your de nition of success changed throughout your career and what does it look like now?

local players stepping actually say you’re

What motivates you more – facing a player you’ve never played before or playing a familiar

I don’t think it’s changed. I think it’s actually excelled because I wouldn’t say you’re used to having success,

Oh wow, that’s going to depend on the person for somebody, you need to game and

depend on the person for sure. I think there’s some sort of excitement when you haven’t played because it’s like gure out their game and it’s kind of a challenge in a way for me.

I don’t really like the trailblazing labels. I think, to me, it doesn’t come as something that I want to advocate for, that’s not my lane I want to take. I’ve just always been very honest. I’ve always been very authentic in who I am, and it came with good and the bad. I had to learn how to reserve myself sometimes and learn how to be vulnerable and be okay with that. I became a mum and I wanted to make sure that we have the right rules at least or something that can help other people. I didn’t bene t from them, and it doesn’t matter.

But it really depends.

But it really Especially

if I lost to

I want our sport to be better when I stop playing, to be way better than when I started. I feel like there’s a lot of amazing players, amazing legends like Billie Jean King and many, many others who were able to open

LESSONS

for life

The court can be a classroom for players of all levels. Superstar competitors show how qualities developed in the heat of battle provide lessons that serve them for life. By

VIVIENNE CHRISTIE

Fcreate quite the same challenges as tennis.

individual sport, with few others to provide answers in matches, it demands qualities including strategy, focus, adaptability and calm under pressure.

As noted, those character traits

As a largely Novak Djokovic has can serve a person both on and off the court. “ It definitely made me more resilient just for everything else in life, really,” said the world No.1 of his 20-plus years on tour.

“It h as allowed me to tap into the parts of myself mentally, physically, emotionally that I didn't know existed.”

The next time you step on court, consider it’s also a classroom for life lessons ...

CHALLENGES CAN MAKE YOU STRONGER

Watching ARYNA SABALENKA charge to the AO 2024 title with devastating power and accuracy, it was hard to imagine the baffling serving woes that eroded her confidence throughout 2022. It wasn’t the only difficulty that Sabalenka overcame to triumph for a second straight year at Rod Laver Arena; in her previous Grand Slam campaign, the 25-year-old surrendered a commanding firstset lead to Coco Gauff in the US Open final. The resilient champion describes those challenges as tough, yet essential, chapters in her mental development. “I’m

happy that I went through that difficult time because it showed me that even if I’m not serving well, I can play on the return games.

It’s not the end of the world,” said Sabalenka, who has nevertheless built her serve as a weapon and in a similar way, channelled her US Open in disappointment into positive progress. “That match actually motivated me so much to work even harder, to improve my game.

So next time I’m playing in the final, I have more confidence in my game and belief in myself.”

NEVER, EVER, GIVE UP

After 60 earlier Grand Slam men’s doubles campaigns, Rohan Bopanna not only achieved his long-awaited breakthrough alongside Matt Ebden at AO 2024 but at age 43, also became the oldest man to rank world No.1. The Indian superstar, who credits Iyengar Yoga, daily meditation, pre-match power naps and a full-time physiotherapist for his late-career milestones, refuses to be defined by age. “The conversation is, are you fi t and ready to go to the match. I don’t think age has anything to do with it,” Bopanna, now 44, told The Breakfast Show in India. “Success can come at any age … if anyone ever tells you (that) at this age, you can’t get it, there’s no more success going to happen, that’s where I truly believe the perseverance of constantly doing it week-in (and) week-out (counts).”

THE POWER OF DETERMINATION

To say that NOVAK DJOKOVIC ’s superstar tennis career was improbable is an understatement. There were few Serbian tennis role models when he first picked up a racquet as a four-year-old and as he started to develop his talent in war-torn Belgrade, the challenges became even greater. “A boy like me, growing up in Serbia, becoming a tennis champion? It was unlikely in even the best of circumstances,” he wrote in his biography, Serve to Win. “And it became even more unlikely when the bombs started dropping.” The determination that saw a 12-year-old Djokovic move to a tennis academy in Germany, then turn pro at age 16, has since featured in countless matches in his rise to become a record-breaking world No.1. Among his unparalleled 24 Grand Slam titles are 39 fi ve-set victories, seven of them requiring recovery from two sets down. “I always try to imagine myself as a winner. I think there is a power to that,” said Djokovic, after a fi ve-set victory over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon 2019 final. “There has to be, next to the willpower, strength that comes not just from your physical self, but from your mental and emotional self.”

YOURGAME

Boost your on-court performance

54 SPORTING CONUNDRUMS

Treating others with respect is an unwritten rule of tennis. A guide to the nuances of sportsmanship.

56 DETERMINED TO ‘MAKE A DIFFERENCE’

Esteemed coach Nicole Kriz is the first female lead at Tennis Australia’s National Tennis Academy.

57 STROKE MASTER

Elena Rybakina possesses one of the most damaging backhands in the women’s game.

58 READY FOR BATTLE

How do pro players prepare for a match? Australian Aleksandar Vukic reveals his secrets.

59 TRAIN WITH ELLEN PEREZ

Australian doubles star Ellen Perez shares an insight into her practice routines.

FOCUS: Emma Raducanu is working hard to rediscover top form after multiple surgeries sidelined the former world No.10 for months in 2023.