Alex De Minaur states the ‘sly comment’ made by a reporter which revealed to him that he was playing Novak Djokovic next

And whilst he remains fit and threatening to almost anyone on tour, few can deny that his level has dropped in recent years compared to the domination he exhibited just three seasons ago.

This affable Aussie will be very keen to capitalise on this, but will be well aware of the threat still posed by the legendary veteran.

Alex De Minaur reveals how he found out he’d be playing Novak Djokovic

Asked about his confirmed showdown with the 24-time Grand Slam champion, there was actually a touch of frustration in how De Minaur answered, seemingly taking aim at the media for revealing his Wimbledon draw before he was ready.

He admitted: ‘Well, to be completely fair, I don’t look at the draw whatsoever. The only way I’m gonna know who I’m playing is through media, basically.

‘And I hadn’t really heard about my draw until maybe two days ago, where there was a sly comment about, you know, Novak could potentially be in your section, and I kind of assumed that it was my next round, opponent, but realistically, it’s not something that if it was up to me, I would have found out just as I finished my match, as I’m cooling down on the bike and I ask my team, All right, who’s next?’

Alas, he previewed the clash, noting: ’But yeah, it’s exciting. These are the matches you want to be playing; you don’t want to go through a draw or a Grand Slam and feel like everything’s been handed to you.

‘You ultimately want to be beating the best players and that’s that’s my focus.’

‘It’s funny how life works. You know, here we are a year later and I’m going to more likely than not get that matchup.

‘So it is a round earlier, but still, it was a brutal time for me, last year, having to deal with all of those emotions, but here we are a year later, feeling good, ready to go, and I’m gonna get my chance again. So I’m excited for that.’

Alex De Minaur with a chance to exorcise Wimbledon demons vs Novak Djokovic

Whilst it’s not an ideal fourth-round draw, to meet someone of this calibre so early, it is quite poetic for De Minaur.

After all, around this time last year, he was gearing up for one of the matches of his life at the All-England Club, also against Novak Djokovic.

Having cruised into the Wimbledon quarter-finals, the 26-year-old was in mesmeric form, having dropped just a single set to Arthur Fils in a battling but comprehensive four-set victory over the Frenchman.

But, the physical demands of that last match took their toll, and whilst he tried to argue otherwise, it had ruled him out of the quarter-finals.

De Minaur was devastated as he withdrew from his Wimbledon match vs Djokovic.

Playing the tennis of his life, and coming up against a physically hampered opponent, this was arguably the best chance he was going to get, not only to topple the Serbian, but to go all the way at a Grand Slam.

Now, nearly exactly a year later, De Minaur has a chance to finally face Djokovic at Wimbledon. Hopefully, he can perform as near to the level he reached in 2024.