The youngest person to reach the Sydney International final since Lleyton Hewitt in 2000, 18-year-old Alex De Minaur has been given some words of wisdom by his Australian mentor.
MORE: De Minaur dominates to reach first ever ATP final
Set to contest his first ever ATP final against Russian Daniil Medvedev, De Minaur has started 2018 with a bang to defy his world no.187 ranking.
Hewitt, who won the Sydney International in 2000 as a teenager and again in 2001, has been keeping a close eye on De Minaur who's taken advice from Hewitt very much to heart.
"(Hewitt) tells me just pretty much to stay tough, to not give anything away," De Minaur said.
"To show players in the locker room that this is my brand of tennis, what I come up with every time I step out on court.
"It's about showing that presence, and that's what I'm trying to pride myself on."
De Minaur's opponent in the final is ranked 84th in the world and without a title to his name will be desperate to defeat the Aussie who is taking a pretty simple approach to the decider.
"It's going to be another battle. It's going to be fun," he said.
"I'm sure we are both going to come out swinging.
"It's just tennis at the end of the day.
"You each are trying to hit a yellow ball over the net, that's how I try to look at it."
With the Australian Open looming, De Minaur is set to face world no.20 Tomas Berdych in the first round.
