#adm

We wasn't s'posed to make it past twenty-five, Joke's on you, we still alive ~ We Don't Care, Kanye West

A top ten mainstay (against all odds and predictions), yet someone with "no weapons" - how is this possible?

I (don't) got the power

Alex's most egregious and talked-about shortcoming is his lack of power, both in his serve and groundstrokes, so let's look a little closer.

I think it's arguable that accuracy, or lack thereof, on the serve is a bigger problem than the speeds, especially in recent times, as he has really buffed up his game.

But why is he a somewhat 'lightweight' server?

Well, remember all I said about Felix's and Taylor's serve; the deep knee bend, the shoulder rotation, racket drop, ect? Well, demon doesn't do any of these things half as well.

This is really noticeable when putting them side-by-side.

Look at Taylor: He has turned his hips and shoulders more, the bend in his knees is much deeper and his elbow is further back. Overall he’s creating a much more powerful kinetic chain and is just a taller guy.

But again, I think his accuracy is an even bigger problem - as someone on the 'shorter' side (the man is 6'0 I can't, in good conscience, call him short😭), he doesn't hit lines very often, and is one of the least accurate servers in the top ten, making life a lot harder for himself as his opponents can get into more service points/games.

My name is Barry Allen Carlos Alcaraz Alex De Minaur, and I'm the fastest man alive!

Perhaps his special-est and most acclaimed attribute (which should already begin painting the picture of his supposed weaponlessness), Alex is arguably the quickest player around the (hard)courts and it allows him to make insane plays like this:

Yes, I know this is a clay court, I just thought the point was cool😔

Now, there really isn't a lot of data about players' speed, but Alex can always be found near the top of the 'steal score' leaderboard (percentage of points you win having been in defence), showing that his ability to scamper around a tennis court sees him winning a big slice of points that he technically shouldn't.

During their match at AO, Bublik kept complaining that 'the court was too slow' but I think the real problem is that Alex is too fast and Bublik crumbled under the pressure of so many balls coming back at him.

His speed shrunk the court and left Bublik feeling like he couldn't get the ball past him.

Breakin' Bad

If there's anything Alex is a certified 'elite' at, it's returning. In 2025, he sat at third place in return games won, right behind Sinner and Alcaraz.

How?

Well, those short backswings that aren't great for pace/spin generation? They're perfect for absorbing pace and getting returns in play!

This is very evident on the backhand side;

The short swing means it’s very difficult for Alex to generate racquet head speed, hence the very flat groundstrokes. They can still be difficult to deal with though, especially on quicker and low-bouncing surfaces where the ball stays low and really penetrates through the court.

However, it falls short as a real weapon everywhere else.

It does create a good shield though - it allows him to deal with pace really well, take the ball early and get good, deep returns or block them back in play.

Big net worth!

Ignore the weird data representation 🙄

I just wanted to use this to highlight Demon's impressive efficiency at net!

Obviously when and how much must be considered with these things but Alex is really good at applying forward pressure and finishing points at net. 71.5% is no joke.

I think the perception of Alex is largely stuck in the past, but that's kinda how it goes in tennis. I think he deserves a lot more credit for how good he is and being a LITERAL TOP TEN PLAYER! You don't get to 6 in the world by being a bum.

~ Also the general disdain for more defensive/counterpunching players is quite absurd🫩

Finally defeated my procrastination demons and then fell ill. But we got there in the end!

Elena up next! Here's a pic of Alex