Alex De Minaur will face one of the toughest matches of his career tonight, playing in the quarter finals of the Australian Open against world No.1, Carlos Alcarez.
But from the moment Alex de Minaur, who is the world No. 6, rocked up for his first ever private tennis lesson in 2004 in Sydney’s Kogarah Bay, his coaches, brother and sister Kerry and Cindy Dock, knew he was something special.
At just four years old, it was clear that “Alex was destined for greatness,” Cindy shares exclusively with Woman’s Day.
“I just remember he was so little,” adds Kerry. “He lived and breathed tennis, and his dad shared with me early on that he spent 2-3 hours a day hitting the ball at home, and was even home-schooled so he could maximise on his practice time.”
“He came every Tuesday and Thursday at 11am, and never missed a session.”
“He arrived with his mum, Esther, as the family home was just up the road in Carss Park.
“I’ll never forget the day he got his first serve over – trust me, there was no other kid on the planet that could’ve gotten that serve in from the baseline at the age of four!”
Destined for greatness
Kerry, now 65, knew he had to make some tough decisions about young Alex’s playing future.
Knowing he had done all he could with private lessons, it was time to hand over the budding little champ to his younger sister, Cindy, now 48.
A former professional player, she was coached by Kerry right throughout her junior career.
“He needed to be hitting the ball with other kids, so I put together a group of really talented youngsters and it became very clear, very quickly, that Alex was destined for greatness,” Cindy, now 48, says proudly.
“At that young age you must instill in them the basic values of tennis – whoever picks up the balls the quickest become the best players because they get to hit more balls – no surprise, Alex was the quickest!
“I drummed into them to always make sure you listen and, above all, be well behaved.”
Cindy and Kerry’s late father Tammy arrived as a refugee by boat at Bondi Beach in 1941 from his native Cantonese province via Papua New Guinea, and their late mother Katie came to Australia from China as a baby.
The siblings believe the single most important responsibility is to teach kids to love the game.
“If we didn’t do that then they wouldn’t play anymore – it’s that simple,” Cindy says.
“We hope we laid the foundation for Alex – tennis is an amazing tool to become quality people both on and off the court in terms of determination and discipline for whatever you do in life.
“It’s why Alex is one of the nicest players on the circuit.”
Relocation to Spain
Alex, who turns 27 in February, was born in Sydney to Uruguayan father Anibal “Pancho” and Spanish mother Esther.
Like many sporting families, the family made the tough decision in 2005 to relocate to Esther’s hometown of Alicante, where the current World No. 6 met his career-long coach, Adolfo Gutierrez.
Cindy, who was a regular hitting partner to a young Jelena Dokic during her career, truly believes the relocation was the best decision.
“I was invited by the family to visit them in Alicante and to see him thriving in that environment made me feel our job was done,” she says selflessly.
These days, the brother and sister duo, who unsurprisingly never had their own children, continue to devote their lives to coaching kids through their Blast Tennis Academy in Sydney’s South.
“If I’d had my own family, I could never have devoted the past 48 years to coaching and developing our game,” Kerry explains.
“I’ve just come off a two-week tennis camp in the school holidays and our aim has always been to make the sport affordable for everyone.
“I think what keeps them coming back is the fact we have kept costs down – or it might just be that after every session we shout the kids a Slurpee from the local 7-Eleven!” he says with a laugh.
“We have to continue to invest in grassroots tennis – not make it expensive and elite – and keep tennis popular, and not give away the crucial funding to Pickle and Padel, which are so much easier and cheaper to operate, but they’re not tennis!”
Welcome back with open arms
And while Alex is yet to catch up with his first coaches, it’s Cindy and Kerry’s latest recruits who have an open invitation for him to drop by.
“Alex has inspired an entire generation and, without singling them out, we’ve got eight young guns in our playing group right now who could well be the next “Demon”.”
“We’d love Alex to drop in for a hit and bring along fiancée Katie [Boulter], and we might even shout them a Slurpee!” they continue.
“Whatever Alex does next, one thing is certain: he’ll always be the nicest bloke in the game, and for that, we’re very proud to have had the opportunity to be his first coaches.”
For more information go to blasttennisacademy.com
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