Alex de Minaur and other tennis stars roasted during launch of ATP Finals

Australian ace Alex de Minaur has been cruelly mocked on social media for crimes against (you surely know where there is going, don’t you?) fashion.

As the eight big stars of tennis gathered for the ‘blue carpet’ launch of the ATP Finals, fans were quick to whip up a frenzy over the players’ unusual — or rather, nerdy — outfits for the event.

Double-breasted suit coats were the order of the day ... slightly oversized, and, umm, seemingly un-ironed.

And fans, naturally, couldn’t let it go.

The poor old victims who came under fire were tennis champions Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz (not so much him), Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz (not so much him, either), Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev, and our Alex.

“De Minaur looks like some old guy,” one observer wrote on Reddit.

While another said on Twitter: “It’s a bit like a ventriloquist dummy convention,”

Another wondered: “Why do all their suits look wrinkly and badly fitted?”

And another said: “They look like they’re in court, ready for jury service or something.”

Others compared them to the “school teacher at the dance” and others suggested they looked the “choir of the local church”.

Another fan said: “Horrible photo. They all look 65. These men deserve better. Please do better if you want tennis fans to be fully engaged.”

While another wrote: “Those fashion choices will haunt them in a few years.”

Meanwhile, de Minaur will have a tall order on his ATP Finals debut, having to tackle his nemesis, Sinner, in front of the Italian’s adoring fans on the opening night of the showpiece event in Turin.

De Minaur, the first Australian to compete in the men’s tour’s end-of-season championship for two decades, has never beaten the world No.1 in seven attempts.

When he lines up in Sunday night’s match at the Inalpi Arena, he will be given little hope of ending the wretched five-year sequence.

In Thursday’s draw, ‘Demon’ has been placed alongside Sinner, as well as former Finals champion Daniil Medvedev and American Taylor Fritz in the ‘Ilie Nastase Group’, named after the first ATP world No.1.

Only the top two of the quartet will qualify for the semi-finals, leaving de Minaur likely to be needing wins against Medvedev and Fritz if he wants to make the last-four, since his record against Sinner is so discouraging.

In those seven contests with the Italian, de Minaur has only taken one set — and that was four years ago.

Yet this has been a year when de Minaur has been making huge breakthroughs.

Earlier in 2024, he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in Acapulco, for the first time after 10 defeats, leaving him to reprise the old Vitas Gerulaitis joke: “No-one beats Alex de Minaur 11 times in a row.”

He also has a losing record against Medvedev (3-6) but did defeat the Russian at the French Open this year in his breakthrough run on the Roland Garros clay.

De Minaur is not the only Australian in action in Turin, with US Open champions Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell making up an all-Sydney outfit in the doubles competition.

They’ll open up the whole tournament on Sunday against Dutchman Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic.

Australia’s Olympic doubles champ Matt Ebden will also be partnering 44-year-old Indian veteran Rohan Bopanna.

- With AAP