De Minaur raring to go in Paris after recovering from hip injury

PARIS: Australia’s Alex De Minaur said he is ready to fulfil his Olympic dream after shaking off a hip injury that cut short his Wimbledon campaign and threatened his participation at the Paris Games.

The world number six pulled out of his Wimbledon quarter-final against Novak Djokovic earlier this month after sustaining a cartilage tear in his hip in the closing stages of his fourth-round win over Arthur Fils.

De Minaur was unable to play at the Tokyo Games three years ago after contracting COVID and the hip injury sparked fears he might miss another Olympics but the Sydneysider said on social media on Monday he was ready to compete again.

“To finally be able to represent Australia in the Olympics is a dream come true,” De Minaur said. “I’m very passionate when I play for my country and wear the green and gold, so this is another one of those moments.

“I’m extremely excited to lace up for Paris 2024.” De Minaur spearheads an Australian team that also includes Alexei Popyrin, Ellen Perez, Matthew Ebden, John Peers, Olivia Gadecki, Ajla Tomljanovic, Daria Saville and Rinky Hijikata.

The Olympic tennis event will be held on the clay courts of Roland Garros from July 27-August 4. De Minaur cracked the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time this year and proved he can be a force on clay after reaching the French Open quarter-finals in June. “I showed that I’m perfectly capable,” De Minaur said at the end of his French Open campaign. “The Olympics will be best-of-three sets. There’s no reason why I can’t put on a good showing, perform and win matches.”