Alex De Minaur (25) said a humiliating loss to Jannik Sinner (23) in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday felt like a slap in the face after a period of improvement in which he emerged as the best hope of his nation to finish. a great drought.
De Minaur suffered a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 defeat to the defending champion in one hour and 48 minutes, ensuring his country’s wait for a local Grand Slam men’s singles champion since Mark’s triumph would continue. Edmondson in 1976.
A tenth defeat to Sinner in as many meetings took some shine off an otherwise solid fortnight for the world number eight at Melbourne Park.
“The positive, how I handled everything… the fact that I came in this year as a top 10 player with a lot of expectations, a lot of pressure. The whole country wanted me to do well. I wanted to do well here.” “ De Minaur told reporters.
“I would have loved to do more today, but this is what happens sometimes in tennis.
“The negative is that after playing great tennis at home and winning so much, you feel like you’ve been slapped in the face, to be honest, for finishing like that.”
De Minaur said he had felt a similar despondency after a loss to 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic a couple of years ago.
“I will survive and continue to improve. I need to sit down with my team and find a way to hurt Jannik on the court.” he added.
“Ultimately, that’s the way we have to look at it and find different ways because right now we don’t have it. So let’s go back to the drawing board, like I have done my entire career.
“I don’t think this is my ceiling. I have more in the tank.”
