Australian Tennis Magazine - October/November 2025

The Legacy Issue

LAVER CUP

Greats Unite

LEGENDS’

Lasting Impact

22 REWRITING THE RIVALRY

With victory at Flushing Meadows, Carlos Alcaraz reclaimed control of a compelling rivalry with Jannik Sinner.

FEATURES

12 MAN ON THE MOVE

Setting new career highs as he travels the world with a bold sense of purpose, Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur is inspiring the next generation through his example.

16 YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS

From the brash to the brutally honest, we shine a light on some of the sport’s most iconic quotes from the past 50 years.

28 SABALENKA STRIKES BACK

Aryna Sabalenka ended her Grand Slam season with a US Open triumph, making her the first woman to successfully defend a singles title in New York in 11 years.

MANAGING EDITOR

Vivienne Christie

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Andrea Williamson FOUNDING EDITOR

Alan Trengove

PHOTOGRAPHS

Getty Images

Tennis Australia

Australian Tennis Magazine is published by TENNIS AUSTRALIA LTD, Private Bag 6060, Richmond, Vic 3121. Email: editor@tennismag.com.au

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Printed in Australia by Ive

The views expressed in Australian Tennis Magazine are not necessarily those held by Tennis Australia. While the utmost care is taken in compiling the information contained in this publication, Tennis Australia is not responsible for any loss or injury occurring as a result of any omissions in either the editorial or advertising appearing herein. Dan Imhoff DESIGN Magazine

52 DELIVERING CHANGE

The WTA has become the first world sporting body to offer comprehensive maternity benefits to mothers and mothers-to-be.

55 MR UNPREDICTABLE

With a flair for chaos and showstopping shotmaking, Alexander Bublik is proving the game’s ultimate disruptor.

58 HALL OF FAME

For almost two decades since his remarkable playing career concluded, David Hall has devoted himself to the sport that carried him through his toughest times.

62

CULTURAL CONNECTIONS

Evonne Goolagong Cawley was proud to celebrate cultural connections at the National Indigenous Tennis Carnival.

46 IN THE MIDST OF GREATNESS

Alex de Minaur deemed it a “pinch-me moment” drawing inspiration from former Aussie greats Rod Laver and Pat Rafter before spearheading Team World to Laver Cup glory.

41 MORE THAN MATCHES

While thriving on the biggest stages, past and present Grand Slam champions have created a legacy that extends far beyond the court.

Guided by

GREATNESS

There was a symbolism of sorts as Patrick Rafter playfully implored Alex de Minaur to “move forward” at the Laver Cup in San Francisco. Rafter, of course, was telling the current Aussie No.1 to press the net, referencing the servevolley tactics he spectacularly employed in his Grand Slam winning career in the late ’90s.

But the new Team World Vice Captain could have equally – and accurately – been speaking of the younger Australian’s career in a broader sense. In a season of new highs and impressive consistency, De Minaur is moving forward – and with the inspiration of many past greats fuelling his fire.

From adding to his title count in Washington with a breathtaking display of athleticism and tenacity, to answering every team call-up and featuring in the

second week of all four majors in 2025, the top-10 mainstay has replicated qualities of his legendary predecessors.

At the recent Davis Cup Qualifier 2nd Round in Sydney, De Minaur rubbed shoulders with Australian great Ken Rosewall and – as always – drew on the support of Australian team captain and former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt. In a flawless Laver Cup performance, he thrived under the guidance of Team World leaders Andre

The spirited De Minaur is in turn dedicated to fostering the next generation of Australian stars. Earlier this year, some of the nation’s best 12/u and 14/u players travelled to Europe as part of the Alex de Minaur Foundation Tour, with De Minaur on hand to offer both practical advice and words of encouragement.

“I’m very much enjoying being a part of it, being able to socialise with the kids [and] have them

pick my brain,” he said. “Because ultimately, when I was in their position [as a junior], I loved every second of having the chance to be able to learn from a pro.”

As we celebrate Australian Tennis Magazine ’s 50th year of publication, legacy is a natural theme. Within those five decades, role model players have not only set the standard for the generations that follow but also created an impact well beyond the court.

Multiple stars have combined major-winning careers with philanthropic and business ventures, lent their voices to important social causes, and embodied values that both grow and enrich the sport. And while champions are always moving forward, they are powered by a storied past.

Vivienne Christie editor@tennismag.com.au

Alex de Minaur MAN ON THE MOVE

Alex de Minaur wasn’t focusing on the travel time. Within the space of a month, the No.1 Australian had competed in Washington, Montreal, New York, Sydney, San Francisco and Beijing.

“I’m trying to do my best to forget all the travelling I’ve done,” he smiled in China, where he equalled his record for most matches won – 47 –in a season by reaching the semifinals. “It’s been a lot recently. A lot of different beds and a lot of air miles.”

Crossing multiple time zones, waiting around airports and packing and repacking his bags, De Minaur had many opportunities to consider the highs and lows that accompanied those whirlwind travels.

Setting new careers highs as he travels the world with a bold sense of purpose, Alex de Minaur is inspiring the next generation through his example. VIVIENNE CHRISTIE reports

“Just seeing it straight, and that’s what today was,” he bluntly assessed. “Today was an opportunity to break new ground. I was nowhere near the level I needed to be at. That’s frustrating, because you don’t get these chances o en.”

A return to Australia to contest the Davis Cup Qualifying 2nd Round was similarly bittersweet. He suffered a surprise threeset loss to world No.91 Raphael Collignon on the opening day and while it was business as usual when he defeated Zizou Bergs the following day, it was not enough as Belgium prevailed 3-2.

PIVOTAL CALL-UP

Vowing to maintain the longerterm focus on his long-stated goal to claim Davis Cup success for Australia, the passionate competitor turned his immediate attention to another team event. When Frances Tiafoe was a late withdrawal for Team World at the Laver Cup in San Francisco, De Minaur answered the lastminute call-up to compete.

lauding De Minaur’s never-saydie attitude and determination to “keep having a crack” a er his fellow Australian defeated Mensik to claim three critical points on the third day. “Singles and doubles, he’s o ered so much. We saw him today play clutch. We would have been lost without him.”

For the ever-resourceful De Minaur, the Laver Cup detour –accompanied by o -court outings including a glamorous gala and iconic photo shoot – also provided a chance to reset.

From li ing a 10th ATP trophy in Washington – where he saved three match points in a marathon nal against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – De Minaur notched a sixth Grand Slam quarter nal appearance at the US Open.

While adding to his record as the ATP player with the most hardcourt wins this season, the No.8 seed also lamented the “wasted opportunity” a er his form unravelled in a quarter nal loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Thriving under the guidance of new leaders Andre Agassi and Pat Rafter, the Sydneysider also flourished amid the vociferous crowd support and unique camaraderie created at Laver Cup. Cheered on by teammates who were typically his biggest rivals, De Minaur became the only player in San Francisco to win three matches – over Alexander Zverev and Jakub Mensik in singles, and alongside Alex Michelsen in doubles – to help secure Team World’s victory.

“Even before I started competing here, I took this as a big opportunity to take a step in the right direction and play the type of tennis that I want to be playing,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of tough matches and tough losses [recently] where I’ve had lots of regrets, and that wasn’t easy to deal with.

“Without him, we would have seriously struggled,” said Ra er, the Vice Captain,

“So, a little change in mindset and kind of backing myself and playing the type of way I want to play with that clarity has been very important from the very rst point until the last.”

ALEX DE MINAUR

“Every now and again you get a second to take a step back and realise what you’ve achieved.”

ON TRACK FOR TURIN

A er 60-plus matches – and travel to more than 20 cities –by October, a dip in De Minaur’s trademark energy might have been excused. The 26-year-old though was invigorated as he approached the nal stage of the season. The goal to qualify for the elite eight-man eld for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, was in sight.

“Ultimately my goal is to just keep on bringing the energy. The goal is to nish the year strong because I want to prioritise Turin,” he commented at the China Open, where in a fourth ATP semi nal this season he pushed the top-seeded Jannik Sinner to three sets.

“And yeah, a lot of recovery, a lot of hours doing the right thing o the court has allowed me to put up a good performance.”

A second-straight appearance in the elite seasonending tournament would mark another measure of consistency for the dogged competitor – but it is far from a single-minded pursuit.

For Carlos Alcaraz, it wasn’t just about returning to No.1 in New York –it was about reclaiming control of a rivalry that is already replete with compelling chapters. DAN IMHOFF reports

RIVALRY Rewrtiting the

efore any plans of post-Slam downtime at home in Spain or kicking back on one of its Balearic Islands, Carlos Alcaraz’s immediate thoughts from his rst defeat in a major nal shi to turning the tables.

Minutes a er Jannik Sinner evened the score from their preceding Roland Garros result for his maiden Wimbledon triumph, seeds of revenge and reclamation at Flushing Meadows were planted.

For so long on top of the rivalry, Alcaraz couldn’t help but feel the pendulum had swung against him.

“Right a er the match I just thought that I need to improve some things if I want to beat him, a er that Wimbledon nal,” Alcaraz said. “Obviously right a er that I didn’t practise, so I just took a week for myself not doing anything at all …

“I just spent two weeks before Cincinnati just practising speci c things about my game that I need or I felt like I need to improve if I want to beat Jannik.”

It was up to him and his team – including coach Juan Carlos Ferrero – to alter that pendulum’s course ahead of the last major of 2025 where the rival in chief was the reigning champion.

Given the pair’s current standing as the two standout competitors on the biggest stages, chances of a third straight major nal between them – the rst time in the Open era the same pair would contest three Slam nals in a season – were high.

Alcaraz could have returned to training as usual but having settled for the silver salver

JUAN CARLOS FERRERO

at SW19 this one stung more than most.

Never had his focus or physicality wavered less in a Grand Slam fortnight than at this year’s US Open. He ensured the four biggest prizes in the sport were split this season following his second trophy in the Big Apple – a throwback to his breakthrough.

“The performance today was perfect … I think it helps a lot to change a little bit the way of the game.”

In both nals – in 2022 against Casper Ruud and this time against the top seed, Sinner – there was the added incentive of the world No.1 ranking on the line.

Both times he snatched dual bragging rights.

Ferrero has been there every step of the way since he rst met Alcaraz as a 12-year-old and all six of his charge’s major titles have come under his guidance.

The team had opted for a 15-day training block heavily tailored to countering Sinner’s improvements post Wimbledon and it paid o a er the rematch eventuated.

Alcaraz produced the highest sustained level Ferrero had witnessed from him, a 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4 victory in two hours and 42 minutes, which took his record against the Italian to 10-5.

“The performance today was perfect,” former No.1 Ferrero said. “I think he compromised [with] himself to go for the match all the time, tried to put pressure on the rival sooner than Jannik. I think it’s one of the keys.

“I think these guys hit the ball, both of them, very, very fast, and I think who hits rst takes the advantage on points. Carlos has maybe more variety [in] his game, and he can do more, like slice, go to the net, and do more things than maybe Jannik. But I think it helps a lot to change a little bit the way of the game.”

Only a year ago, Alcaraz was a shadow of his usual self. Still licking his wounds following a bitter loss to Novak Djokovic in the Paris Olympics gold medal match, he succumbed early to Botic van der Zandschulp in one of the heaviest upsets of recent US Opens.

It was unclear how long he would take to bounce back, however his need for work-life balance was abundantly clear.

The toll of striving for benchmarks so high for someone so young was telling and time to reset on home soil, even to let his hair down with friends and family, was crucial for maintaining his longer-term motivation.

It was a more relaxed and rejuvenated Alcaraz who returned to Cincinnati this year.

A haircut gone wrong – rst mistake was handing the clippers to his brother – was the only hiccup of the opening week in New York.

For someone far from follically challenged, however, he quickly grew into his sleek buzzcut look – he even promised a fresh commemorative take on it following the title.

It was his most clinical route to a major trophy yet.

Having breezed through the rst week, he comfortably disposed of 20th

seed Jiri Lehecka for the loss of just 10 games and in a rematch of his Australian Open quarter nal defeat in January, he avenged seventh seed Novak Djokovic.

Sinner was the only player who salvaged a set as the Spaniard became the youngest man to claim multiple majors on all three surfaces.

A seventh trophy this season –more titles than losses at the time for 2025 – le the reinvigorated world No.1 on the cusp of a career Grand Slam for his Melbourne Park return.

True to his word, the buzz cut took on a bleached blond transformation to mark his latest triumph.

There’d be time set aside – even if eeting – to soak it all in before the next.

“You just have one day just to enjoy, or not even that, and going after that to another tournament, another place,” Alcaraz said.

“So sometimes it’s really difficult to realise that I won the tournament, to enjoy.

“What I learned mostly this year is to take moments of every tournament, of every experience that you’re living and enjoy, and enjoy with my team, with my family, with the people you have around … That’s something that I’m trying to do a er every tournament, every match, or every trophy.”

SABALENKA strikes back

After

a challenging year at the majors, Aryna Sabalenka ended her Grand Slam season in style with a US Open victory, the first successful singles title defence at Flushing Meadows in 11 years. By MATT

ntering the 2025 US Open, Aryna Sabalenka insisted her world No.1 ranking re ected an amazing season, whether or not it included victory at one of the four majors.

Yet when she defeated Amanda Anisimova in the women’s singles nal, her reaction suggested just how meaningful that major title was.

Sabalenka held o a ghtback from Anisimova – who was willed on by 23,000 home fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium – to prevail 6-3 7-6(3). She sank to the court, shoulders heaving as she sobbed tears of joy.

The rst woman to defend her US Open title since Serena Williams in 2014, she now owned four Grand Slam trophies. A er two narrow major nal defeats earlier in 2025, this particular triumph, and trophy, was perhaps the sweetest of all.

“I think because of the finals earlier this season, this one felt different. You know, this one felt like I had to overcome a lot of things to get this one,” she explained.

“A er [the] Australian Open [where she lost the nal to Madison Keys] I thought that the right way would be just to forget it and move on, but then the same thing happened at the French Open [where she fell to

Coco Gau ]. So a er [the] French Open I gured that, ‘OK, maybe it’s time for me to sit back and to look at those nals and to maybe learn something, because I didn’t want it to happen again and again’.

TROLLOPE

control my emotions. I’m not going to let them take control over me, and doesn’t matter what

“Going into this nal I decided for myself that I’m going to control my emotions. I’m not going to let them take control over me, and doesn’t matter what happens in the match. I think from what I understand today, that the lesson learned – and I really hope it will never happen again if I’m going to be playing another nals – [is] that I will be more in control.”

really hope it will never happen again if I’m going to be playing

semi nal to reach her rst major nal. Yet Sabalenka – who loves

Sabalenka had also been the top seed and favourite for the Wimbledon title, until Anisimova surprised her in a three-set semi nal to reach her rst major nal. Yet Sabalenka – who loves revenge matches – was ready for her this time.

She played a tactically and keeping her unforced errors

and would, go big. The American did, nishing with 22 winners to Sabalenka’s 13, but almost double the number of unforced errors.

She played a tactically and emotionally astute match, keeping her unforced errors low and extending rallies with controlled aggression, while accepting that Anisimova could, and would, go big. The American did, nishing with 22 winners to Sabalenka’s 13, but almost double the number of unforced errors.

in patches of the match but surged at certain junctures, most

Anisimova also looked at in patches of the match but surged at certain junctures, most

at 30-30 then broke serve, part

signi cantly when Sabalenka served for the title with a 6-3, 5-4 lead. Anisimova extracted an overhead error from Sabalenka at 30-30 then broke serve, part of a three-game run that put her ahead 6-5 and ignited the crowd.

“There was, like, two moments where I was really close to lose control, but at that moment I told myself, ‘No, it’s not going to happen. It’s absolutely OK’,” revealed Sabalenka, who entered the match 3-6 in nine career meetings against Anisimova.

“That’s what you expect in the nal, that the player is going to ght back and will do her best to get the win. So I was just trying to focus one step at a time.”

“There ght back and will do her best to already won a women’s Openera record of 18 consecutive

When Sabalenka then held to force a tiebreak, the odds were stacked in her favour. She’d already won a women’s Openera record of 18 consecutive tiebreaks, equalling the men’s record held by Andy Roddick.

the stands – along with other

As Roddick watched from the stands – along with other tennis legends including Billie Jean King, Tracy Austin and trophy presenter Chris Evert –Sabalenka took sole ownership of the record and retained her US title in the process.

“She was playing great tennis

“She was playing great tennis from the start. Obviously she’s No.1, and she’s very capable of playing amazing tennis, which she did that today. I give all the credit to her,” Anisimova said.

SABALENKA back

GREATNESS In the midst

GREATNESS midst of

Under the guidance of fresh minds in Andre Agassi and Pat Rafter, Team World had no shortage of inspiration for their San Francisco boilover. DAN IMHOFF reports

Perched courtside in a near empty, low-lit arena typically home to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, a trio of Australian standard-bearers come together in a rare multigenerational moment.

The incumbent, Alex de Minaur, has just been put through his paces in a Team World training session at the Chase Centre – host venue of the eighth Laver Cup, in San Francisco – having touched down from Sydney following a whirlwind trip home for Davis Cup duties.

Australia’s greatest men’s player and the event’s namesake, Rod Laver, sat chatting at length with Team World’s new Vice-Captain, fellow former Aussie great Pat Ra er, before De Minaur ambled over with a grin from ear to ear.

Elder statesman Laver, in his charcoal suit and white, opennecked shirt, sat in contrast to Ra er in his o cial red team t-shirt and De Minaur in his black and white training kit – their attire an apt juxtaposition of their respective roles.

World No.8 De Minaur deemed it a “pinch-me moment”, having chatted with his revered compatriots – two former world No.1s who collectively owned 13 Grand Slam singles titles.

“Obviously, as an Aussie growing up, you hear of the greats, and to be able to spend time talking tennis with these greats, it doesn’t have a price tag,” De Minaur said. “So these moments are incredible in my career. I’m very fortunate to be in this position. So de nitely not taking it for granted.”

De Minaur channelled attributes his two forebearers held dear – humility, loyalty and hard work, not to mention a rock-solid net game – to spearhead Team World’s upset of Team Europe on the United States’ West Coast.

It was the men in red’s third triumph following Vancouver in 2023 and London in 2022.

A late call-up to the team, the 26-year-old was surrounded in red by a throng of Americans – Taylor Fritz, Alex Michelsen, Reilly Opelka and Jenson Brooksby – as