Alex de Minaur caps stellar season with $1.2 million triumph - and greatest trophy in history

Alex de Minaur has wrapped up his landmark year in style with one last illuminating and lucrative triumph at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in London. Played in front of a noisy full house in east London, with lights flashing and music blasting out, Demon kept his composure to dispatch Danish tennis star Holger Rune in the final of the eight-man tournament on Sunday.

Played over four eight-minute quarters with only one serve per point and barely any time between rallies, de Minaur thrived. His youthful exuberance, creativity and burning desire to win saw him win all five of his matches over the three-day tournament to pocket $1.2 million and an incredible lightning bolt trophy.

After clinching the win over Rune de Minaur said the format, packed with pressure points, was perfect preparation for next month's Australian Open. Over the three days, de Minaur dispatched Rune 3-1, Jan-Lennard Struff 3-1 and Alexander Bublik 3-1 in the group stages, before defeating veteran Gael Monfils 3-1 in Sunday’s semi-final, before an even more conclusive 3-0 win (13-8, 14-11, 16-10) over the Dane in the showdown.

“It definitely has been the best season yet, but I don’t think it’s going to be the best season of my career,” de Minaur told the crowd. “So I want to keep on improving. I want to keep on getting better and use everything that I learned this year to put it towards 2025, and hopefully bigger and better things.”

Alex de Minaur relishing time with Katie Boulter

Considered a bit of an honorary Englishman, due to his relationship with British No.1 Katie Boulter, the Aussie was a crowd favourite in London. And de Minaur says the love he receives in his 'second home' England is incredible as he revealed he is lapping up spending quality time with Boulter, a rarity with the couple both travelling tennis stars.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend in London, I’ll tell you that. It felt like home, I felt amazing from the very first moment that I stepped on court,” said de Minaur. “I had what seemed to be a lot of Aussies in the crowd too, so it felt like home.’‘

Before he flies back to Australia for Christmas, de Minaur said he plans to make the most of being close to Boulter and said he is eyeing off another one of her meals at an early Christmas celebration with Boulter's family in London. “Katie’s cooking, she’s a great cook - and I’m definitely looking forward to eating a lot of food,” he said.

RELATED:

• Tributes pour in after sad death of beloved Australian tennis star

• Aussie tennis great torches Lleyton Hewitt over $4 million mistake

Alex de Minaur enjoys successful season despite injury

This week the 25-year-old is expected to pick up a third John Newcombe Medal as Australia’s tennis player of the year after what has been a stellar campaign. The Aussie No.1 reached the second week of every slam, including quarter-finals of the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open and rose as high as world No.6.

A hip injury suffered late in his fourth-round victory at Wimbledon forced de Minaur to pull out of a blockbuster clash with Novak Djokovic and ultimately hindered the rest of his year. But de Minaur, 25, fought out the year to become the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004 to qualify for the elite eight-man ATP Finals. He was also the first since Hewitt in 2005 to reach three major quarters in a calendar year.

with AAP