Alex de Minaur has quickly become one of the most recognisable faces in Australian Tennis.
At 25 years old, the Sydney local has amassed over nine titles and a career-high world ranking of six – but a mid-game injury during his fourth-round win over Arthur Fils at Wimbledon could put his Olympic dreams in jeopardy.
The injury, which was later confirmed to be a cartilage tear in his hip, saw de Minaur forfeit the Wimbledon quarter-final against Novak Djokovic in mid-July – just weeks before he was set to head to Paris for the Olympic Games.
As fans around the world held their breath to see if this would be a blow to his Olympic dreams, the young tennis star has now confirmed he is still set to join the Australian team in their campaign for gold.
Taking to social media, the athlete confirmed he was ready to compete again, telling fans it was a “dream come true.”
“To finally be able to represent Australia in the Olympics is a dream come true,” De Minaur said.
“I’m very passionate when I play for my country and wear the green and gold, so this is another one of those moments.
“I’m extremely excited to lace up for Paris 2024.”
De Minaur joins an Australian team that also includes Alexei Popyrin, Ellen Perez, Matthew Ebden, John Peers, Olivia Gadecki, Ajla Tomljanovic, Daria Saville and Rinky Hijikata.
The latest news comes as a sigh of relief to fans of the Aussie athlete, who previously was unable to play at the Tokyo Olympic games after contracting COVID-19 and De Minaur is confident in his ability to perform well on the global stage.
“I showed that I’m perfectly capable,” he said at the end of his French Open campaign.
“The Olympics will be best-of-three sets. There’s no reason why I can’t put on a good showing, perform and win matches.”
