MELBOURNE : Alex de Minaur said he would pick himself up and continue pushing for improvement after his Australian Open campaign ended with a straight-sets defeat by Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Alcaraz moved into the last four at Melbourne Park with a 7-5 6-2 6-1 victory, ending the hopes of sixth seed De Minaur, who was bidding to become the first Australian men’s singles champion at the tournament in more than 50 years.
Although the Australian made the Spaniard work early on, the outcome appeared inevitable as De Minaur faded in a match that lasted two hours and 15 minutes.
“You try to do the right things, you try to keep on improving, but when the results don’t come or the scoreline doesn’t reflect those improvements, then of course you feel quite deflated,” De Minaur told reporters.
“But you get back up. That’s what it is. I can look at it two different ways. I’ve lost to Rafa (Nadal), Novak (Djokovic), Jannik (Sinner) twice, and now Carlos. I’m not losing many matches to players I shouldn’t lose to. You just have to keep moving.”
The 26-year-old now has a 0-6 record against world number one Alcaraz and has lost 13 consecutive matches against world number two Sinner.
Asked how he could close the gap to the leading players on the men’s tour, De Minaur said improvements in ball speed and consistency were key.
“There are some tweaks here and there that will allow me to increase ball speed,” he said. “My natural groundstrokes are quite flat, and it’s difficult to play at very high speed without a lot of risk.
“Players like Jannik or Carlos put so many revolutions on the ball that they can play faster while keeping consistency. That’s something I need to look at and try to work out.”
Despite the disappointment, De Minaur said he remained determined to keep improving and competing at the highest level.
