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'I look forward to the clay more and more,' Alex de Minaur sets a strong foot in clay after beating Stan Wawrinka in Monte Carlo
Taya Gray/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

Australian ace Alex de Minaur has been in great form this season, climbing into the Top-10 elites and maintaining his position since January. However, on one of his weakest surfaces (clay court), the Australian is confident he can perform well after beating Stan Wawrinka in Monte-Carlo Masters.

Oozing with positivity, de Minaur became one of only four players to earn his 20th win of the season after beating Wawrinka 6-3, 6-0 in 61 minutes yesterday. Since January, he has gone on to win the Mexico Open the following month, a week after finishing as runners-up in the Rotterdam Open.

However, even the Australian won’t deny his record on clay has not been good in recent years due to its physical nature. But this time around, he is confident to play well, believing his added weight and muscle can give him an edge.

I think with every year of experience I look forward to the clay more and more. I look at it in a way that there’s no reason why I can’t get good results. In the past, mentally, I wasn’t ready to tell myself I was gonna be good on the clay. I also put on a bit of weight and muscle. That helps. Clay court tennis is a bit more physical.. a lot of strength involved. I’ve put on a couple of kilos. Helpfully it helps me this clay season. Alex de Minaur said in the post match interview

He will now face Tallon Griekspoor in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters. The Holland player has a 2:0 lead in head-to-head against de Minaur. The 25-year-old Australian will be looking to open his account in this budding rivalry.

Alex de Minaur signs off his remarkable win confident message

Despite a two-hour rain delay, Alex de Minaur picked up his first win in the Monte Carlo Masters beating Stan Wawrinka. The Aussie showed proper grit against the former No. 3 and three Majors winner and also used the confidence to sign out his win.

As usual, each winner of a match is given a chance to sign out his or her win on the camera. For de Minaur, his sign-out message revealed how much he believes he will do well in the clay season after beating Wawrinka.

Clay szn. Alex De Minaur wrote

The 25-year-old is hoping to get beyond his last year’s third-round exit in the Monte Carlo Masters with his recent form that has seen him achieve his career-high ranking of No. 9.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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