Alex de Minaur, the World No. 8 Australian tennis star, has reached the 2025 US Open quarterfinals, defeating Leandro Riedi 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 on August 31, 2025, to become the first Australian man to achieve back-to-back US Open quarterfinals since his mentor, Lleyton Hewitt, in 2004-05. As he prepares to face Felix Auger-Aliassime on September 4, 2025, for a chance at his first Grand Slam semifinal, de Minaur’s thoughtful approach to managing his coaching team has drawn attention, particularly for prioritizing their family time, a decision that resonates with Hewitt’s own challenges.
De Minaur employs a dual-coaching system with Adolfo Gutierrez, his primary coach since age nine, and Matt Reid, alongside Hewitt as a mentor and Australia’s Davis Cup captain. In a press conference reported by *Yahoo Sports* on September 3, 2025, de Minaur explained that having two coaches allows them to split tournament duties, ensuring they can spend time with their families despite the grueling 11-month tennis schedule. He noted, “If the coach has a family, then he’s not going to be able to see his family… I’m used to that, and it’s one of the not ideal scenarios of our sport that I don’t get to spend time at home with family and UNI and close friends. But, again, I don’t want my team to ever feel that way.” This approach directly addresses Gutierrez’s needs, as the Spaniard has a young family in Alicante, and de Minaur emphasized, “I’m never going to tell him that he’s not allowed to go and spend time with his family.”
This “not ideal” scenario, as de Minaur described it, also affects Hewitt, who, as a mentor and Davis Cup captain, spends extended periods away from his wife, Bec, and their children, including 16-year-old Cruz, a rising junior player. *Yahoo Sports* highlighted that Hewitt’s busy schedule limits his ability to follow Cruz’s burgeoning career, mirroring the sacrifices de Minaur’s coaches make. De Minaur’s close bond with Hewitt, forged when Hewitt took him into his Sydney and Melbourne homes early in his career, adds a personal layer to his sensitivity to his team’s family needs.
On the court, de Minaur’s focus on team balance has contributed to his consistency, reaching five Grand Slam quarterfinals in the last seven majors, a feat matched only by Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic. Facing Auger-Aliassime, who leads their head-to-head 2-1 but lost their most recent clay-court match in収入
