‘It’s killing me’ – Tennis star undergoing body transformation to end 0-13 streak

Dec 30, 2025 - 18:30

Alex de Minaur has opened up on his ongoing body transformation, as he looks to end Carlos Alcaraz and Jannick Sinner’s dominance.

The Australian tennis star has caught the eye with a noticeably more ripped physique in 2025, in the hope of boosting his performances and challenging for Grand Slam titles.

Australia's Alex de Minaur — De Minaur looked to have hit the gym in recent training pictures

While major success has continued to elude De Minaur, he has still managed to hit new heights over the past 12 months.

He ended the season at a career-high ranking of world No.6, after reaching the semi-finals of the ATP Finals in Italy.

And with the Australian Open just weeks away, the 26-year-old has taken things up a notch as he looks to topple tennis’ dominant duo on home soil.

Each of the last eight Grand Slam titles have been won by the sport’s top two players in Alcaraz and Sinner, and De Minaur knows all too well just how strong both are.

In 18 encounters against the pair, the Aussie is yet to win a single match – including a 0-13 record against Sinner.

Then against world No 1 Alcaraz, he has failed to win in five games, while he lost to both in straight sets in November’s ATP Finals.

‘Getting closer and closer’

De Minaur has vowed to overturn his record against tennis’ leading stars heading into 2026, as he revealed he has taken time in his brief off season to focus on bulking up.

Speaking ahead of this week’s United Cup, where he will lead Australia’s charge, the tennis star said he has enjoyed the ‘longest’ off season of his career, which has lasted all of ‘about a week’

Detailing the focus of this period, De Minaur revealed he had hired a new fitness guru to help him become more physically robust.

On this, he said: “Ultimately, trying to get bigger and stronger and just keep on improving.”

De Minaur is looking to better his previous best run at the Australian Open in the coming weeks[/caption]

Jannick Sinner beat De Minaur en route to winning back-to-back Australian titles in January

This isn’t the first time the star has made a conscious effort to boost his physique, having previously made headlines in February when he began to boast a significantly more muscular build.

De Minaur will certainly be hoping his latest efforts can help take his game to the next level, as he looks to progress beyond the quarter-final stage at a Grand Slam.

The Sydney native has reached the last eight of all four majors, including at the last Australian Open, where he fell to Sinner.

Discussing his plans to halt Sinner and Alcaraz’ progress, De Minaur said: “I think that’s something that we’re all trying to achieve.

“There’s no other way than getting better. You have to bridge that gap.

“I’ve played some very close matches over the years with both of them, and you feel like you are getting closer and closer.

De Minaur was pictured looking noticeably more ripped at the start of the year[/caption]

The Aussie has bulked up considerably from his early days on the ATP Tour

“You have to work on your game and find new weapons. For me, it is finding different ways to hurt these players. It might be being ready to take more risks and to be a disrupter.

“It’s a couple things here and there that we’ve been trying to work towards throughout this off-season in hopes to take that next step.

“There is no other way than just getting better, that’s all it is.”

Demoralising results ‘killing’ De Minaur

De Minaur’s drive to take his game to the next level comes after a number of mentally taxing defeats to tennis’ top players.

This included a loss to Lorenzo Musetti in his second group stage match at the ATP Finals, which prompted a frank and emotional response in his post-match press conference.

Speaking afterwards, De Minaur admitted: “I don’t know how many times I can deal with a loss like this one.

De Minaur has reigning US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in his sights[/caption]

“I just have to talk to my team and try to sort out these issues because these are issues that can’t keep happening.

“I mean, if I really want to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these matches, I can’t lose them. I just can’t.

“It feels like I’ve lost a lot of them this year. More than anything, it’s getting to a point where mentally it’s killing me.”

De Minaur managed to put disappointment behind him on this occasion, responding with victory over Taylor Fritz to set up a final-four clash with Sinner, who once again proved to be his undoing.

But with a potential shot at revenge at the Australian Open, which starts on January 13, the home favourite will be hoping to see his recent hard work pay off in the coming weeks.