Alex de Minaur’s US Open run is over, once again defeated at the Grand Slam level in the quarter-finals.
It marks a disappointing end to what has been a fine week and a half for the Australian, who has seen his run halted by Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Few could disagree with the Canadian’s form heading into this match, having beaten Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev to reach this stage.
However, it was expected that Alex de Minaur would have had enough to reach his first-ever major semi-final.
That was not to be the case, and he naturally cut a frustrated figure in the media room afterwards.
Alex de Minaur explains how he’s feeling after losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime
In fact, he actually admitted he was ‘seeing red’ over his performance, left angered by his own inability to take this golden opportunity.
He told reporters: “It is very tough when you work so hard for something and you constantly are putting yourself in positions to, in a way, prove people wrong, right? But yet again, you kind of fall and especially this time, it’s a tough one to take.
“There’s no beating around the bush. It’s one of those matches that I would love to play again. There’s other times that the opponent has a lot to say. And, I’ve played quarterfinals where I played Jannik, and he was just too good, and there’s not really much I could have done, but I felt like this one was on my racket.
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“It is a shame. I don’t know how I’ll handle it. I’m definitely, as of right now, seeing red, but I’ll get over it. It’s just tennis, right?”
Andy Roddick disagreed with what he heard people saying about De Minaur before the match, but this loss will do little to dispel those claims from some fans.
Alex de Minaur is joining Andrey Rublev on unwanted Grand Slam record
Like it or not, De Minaur seems to really struggle when it comes to the crucial moments in these major events.
He may be a Masters 1000 finalist and a consistent threat throughout most events over the year, but there is clearly a mental block that is preventing him from taking the next step at the elite level.
After all, last night marked his sixth quarter-final defeat at a Grand Slam, having never won at that stage, and thus never competed in a semi-final.
The extension of this unwanted record brings him even closer to Rublev, who has actually lost ten Grand Slam quarter-finals, having never won one.
Naturally, some of these matches were beyond his control, as he alludes to. However, he will feel that last night marked a golden opportunity to break this hoodoo at the US Open. Instead, his loss to Auger-Aliassime will likely sting more than most.
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