ATP Next Gen Finals: Interactive timeline of the meteoric rise of Alex De Minaur, Australia's next great hope

How De Minaur qualified De Minaur had a stellar 2018 and made relatively deep runs in major tournaments compared to his peers. He started the year with a semi-final and final finish at Brisbane and Sydney respectively. He gained valuable points by appearing in the Indian Wells and Miami Masters. That was followed by a third-round run at Wimbledon. He gained the most points and subsequently his highest rankings jump at the Washington Open, where he lost in the final. He jumped nearly 30 spots and breached the top-50 and entering the US Open as the World No 45. De Minaur cemented his place in the Race to Milan rankings by reaching the semi-final of the Shenzhen Open as well as a round of 16 finish at the Shanghai Masters. De Minaur’s year in a tweet

Third round feels 😈🔥🤟 #thesehipsdontlie #deMon pic.twitter.com/uCmOyz6VKE

— Alex de Minaur (@alexdeminaur) August 31, 2018

Biggest scalp of the season De Minaur started the year with a bang by reaching the semi-finals of the Brisbane International where he lost to Ryan Harrison. However, De Minaur scored the biggest win of his career by beating 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic in the second round. One thing you didn’t know about De Minaur By reaching the semi-final and final at Brisbane and Sydney, De Minaur became the youngest player to reach semi-finals in consecutive weeks since Rafael Nadal at the 2005 Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open. Why is De Minaur the NextGen? De Minaur has been touted as the next big hope for Australian tennis, a huge burden for a 19-year-old. However, the Aussie has shown that he is capable of handling the pressure and has played in big matches without being overwhelmed by the occasion. What has surely helped De Minaur has been the presence of two-time Grand Slam champion and former World No 1 Lleyton Hewitt guiding him. The Aussie legend works with De Minaur during the Australian swing of the season and during Grand Slams and Davis Cup matches. For the rest of the profiles of contenders at the ATP Next Gen Finals 2018, click here .