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A devastated Alex de Minaur has opened up on his difficult loss to world No.5 Andrey Rublev in a five-set thriller in the fourth round of the Australian Open, going down in on Sunday night.
De Minaur failed to become the first Australian men’s player to reach an Australian Open quarter-final since Nick Kyrgios in 2015, expressing his heartbreak after the 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-0 loss.
The 24-year-old, who had a dream start to his 2024 campaign, defeating world No.1 Novak Djokovic at the United Cup, was regretful he failed to capitalise on Rublev’s calf cramps during the fifth set.
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”My time here was cut short,” de Minaur said in his post-match press conference after the four-hour match.
“It’s tough because I thought he (Rublev) was hurting physically in the third and in the fourth. He just let go. He started swinging. The balls went in.
“It’s not a match that I thought I lost physically. It was just that the racquet was taken out of my hand. Got to a stage where I just could not get him moving or expose that movement.
“That’s probably the most disappointing part of the whole match.”
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De Minaur said his serve let him down when he needed to take control back from the world No.5 in the fourth set.
“I think there lies the difference in this match. My serve was something that has been really good to me this whole Australian summer, and today kind of disappeared. It’s a little bit disappointing,” he said.
Despite the sour end to his promising Australian Open campaign, the motivation has only grown for the young star on the rise, who noted he is far from content bowing out in the fourth round.
“Perspective changes with results, right? All of a sudden expectation and what you believe you should be achieving also changes,” de Minaur said.
“Maybe in the past I would have been somewhat content with a fourth round, but I thought I had more in me.”
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