Laver thinks De Minaur is definitely on the right road

Alex De Minaur's spirited run at the Australian Open came to an end with a tough lesson from world No. 2 Rafael Nadal. It was expected given De Minaur's age (19) and ranking (No. 29) as well as general inexperience at Grand Slams compared to his 17-time major winning opponent.

Despite the one-sided 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 loss to the 31-year-old Nadal, De Minaur is certainly on the right track—he's now made the third run of his last three Grand Slams. Even living legend Rod Laver thinks so:

The Australian was ranked No. 208 to start the 2018 season and lost in the first round of the Australian Open (to Tomas Berdych). He finished the year at No. 31 with a finalist finish at the Next Gen ATP Finals. De Minaur has got a lot of support from his fans and his team as he looks forward to what could be an even bigger season for him.

"I've had a great Aussie summer. I'm really proud of the effort I put in," he said. "I played some great tennis. Obviously, I'm a little bit disappointed that I wasn't able to perform a little bit better [against Nadal]. But, you know, that's just what Rafa does to you."

De Minaur has already secured his first ATP title, earlier this month in front of a home crowd in Sydney.

De Minaur is expected to rise to a career-high ranking of No. 27.

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