Woodbridge: 'Devastated' Demon can learn from Djokovic

Perth Now

09-07-2025

Alex de Minaur is being urged to take a leaf out of Novak Djokovic's serving book as Australia's tennis luminaries backed the Sydneysider to rebound from his deflating Wimbledon exit.
After de Minaur's fourth-round defeat by the great Djokovic, Todd Woodbridge, the 22-time grand slam doubles champ, and former finalist Mark Philippoussis both told AAP they backed de Minaur to respond strongly to the setback.
Woodbridge revealed he had spent a couple of hours with the "devastated" de Minaur after the match, when the Australian No.1 broke down the details of where he thought he had gone wrong.
Asked what he needed to do to take the next step towards his grand slam ambitions, Woodbridge said: "It's really obvious … He knows that his serve has let him down here."
At 4-2 up in the third set, looking set to drag Djokovic into a fifth, de Minaur faltered before succumbing 1-6 6-4 6-4 6-4.
"He felt if he could have had a better percentage and keep the pace of his serve up, then he would have been able to keep that extra pressure on Novak, so he was really devastated," said Woodbridge.
"It's hard to crash through to this next level, to get to a semi, maybe a final at a slam, and win those matches. They're the ones Alex says 'I have to win'.
"We talked about him using, actually, Novak as an example of someone throughout their career who has adjusted their service motion, always finding something to improve upon it.
"I think about 12 months ago, he was serving better than he is now. I think his technique's gotten a little bit back to the way he used to. But everything else has improved. Physically, he's stronger, there's bit more shape on the ball, and as a transition player, he's fantastic.
"So you're talking one percenters, and you've got to find as many small improvements as you can to break through, and no kid will work harder in the game than Alex to make that happen."
'Scud' Philippoussis, himself the possessor of a mighty serve, has always maintained the lack of a similar weapon for de Minaur has been the one thing holding back de Minaur in his bid to crack the winning code as he's reached five grand slam quarter-finals but never got beyond.
Yet the 1998 US Open and 2003 Wimbledon finalist Philippoussis still sees improvement in the 26-year-old 'Demon'.
"Of course, he's disappointed, but it's very positive," said Philippoussis. "He had the opportunity, that's for sure, but once Novak gets going, it's tough out there. But Alex had a great couple of weeks, and hopefully he can build on that for the US Open swing.
"He's still looking to find something that gives him freer points on his first serve, and hopefully he can find something.
"But he's always improving because he's got the mentality, he's got the physicality, and he's got the heart and the hunger, that's for sure. And he's definitely still improving."