Alex de Minaur has wrapped up his landmark year with one last illuminating and lucrative triumph in an all-singing, all-dancing rock 'n' roll version of the sport at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) grand final in London.
Played in front of a noisy full-house at the old Olympic "Copper Box'' venue in east London with lights flashing and music blasting out, "The Demon'' seemed inspired to deliver some of his best stuff as he defeated Danish star Holger Rune in the final of the eight-man tournament on Sunday.
Played over four eight-minute quarters with only one serve per point and barely any time between points, de Minaur appeared to thrive in this manically abbreviated, unashamedly youth-oriented version of the game as he won all five of his matches over three days.
Swearing that the format, packed with pressure points, was perfect to help him in his preparations for the Australian Open in the new year, he may also have had his head somewhat turned by earning a small fortune for his week's work - total prize money of £625,000 ($A1.2 million).
Over the three days, de Minaur had beaten Rune 3-1, Jan-Lennard Struff 3-1 and Alexander Bublik 3-1 in the group stages, before defeating veteran Gael Monfils 3-1 in Sunday's semi-final, before an even more conclusive 3-0 win (13-8, 14-11, 16-10) over the Dane in the showdown.
"It definitely has been the best season yet, but I don't think it's going to be the best season of my career," de Minaur told the crowd.
"So I want to keep on improving. I want to keep on getting better, and use everything that I learned this year to put it towards 2025, and hopefully bigger and better things."
Considered a bit of an honorary Englishman, now that his relationship with his girlfriend, British No.1 Katie Boulter, has become a source of some fascination in the city, de Minaur put on a bit of a show to outplay Rune in the final.
And even though it was only really exhibition stuff - at one point ''The Demon'' picked up his dropped racquet at the back of the court and still managed to win a point against Monfils - there was real encouragement that he seemed refreshed and pain-free after recent travails with the hip problem that's dogged him since Wimbledon.
"I couldn't have asked for a better weekend in London, I'll tell you that. It felt like home, I felt amazing from the very first moment that I stepped on court," said de Minaur, who has supported the UTS since winning in the Patrick Mouratoglou-devised event in Antwerp in its first year back in 2020.
"I had what seemed to be a lot of Aussies in the crowd too, so it felt like home.''
Before he flies back to Australia for Christmas, de Minaur reckoned he would be enjoying another "early" celebration with Boulter and her family in London.
"Katie's cooking, she's a great cook - and I'm definitely looking forward to eating a lot of food," he said.
And this week the 25-year-old could be gorging himself with another celebration - he's expected to pick up a third John Newcombe Medal as Australia's tennis player of the year on Monday night.
