De Minaur Believes in His Chances on Clay: "I Feel Ready to Beat Anyone on This Surface"

Alex De Minaur made a strong start at the Madrid Masters 1000. The Australian, ranked 7th in the world, dominated Lorenzo Sonego (6-2, 6-3) and confirmed his progress on clay.

In recent days, De Minaur had also reached the semifinals in Monte-Carlo, only being eliminated in a third-set tiebreak by another Italian player, Lorenzo Musetti. Before that, he had comfortably defeated Grigor Dimitrov and Daniil Medvedev.

Ahead of his match against Denis Shapovalov for a spot in the round of 16, the Australian reflected on his win over Sonego and believes he can compete with the world's best players on clay.

As a reminder, De Minaur reached the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros last year for the first time in his career before being defeated by Alexander Zverev just short of the semifinals.

"I'm playing very well, more and more consistently. Over the last two years, I think I've figured out what I need to do to be competitive on clay, and I'm succeeding.

The key has been working very hard in the gym, strengthening my lower body, improving my movement on clay, and increasing the power of my shots.

I've put in a lot of effort in this direction, and the truth is, I feel better. Three years ago, this part of the season was tough for me because I couldn't bring my usual competitiveness.

My goal has always been to be solid on all surfaces and to perform at my best level every week of the year.

I think I'm close to my ceiling on clay, but right now, I feel ready to beat anyone on this surface," he explained to *Punto De Break*.