Alex de Minaur admits the key reason why he lost to Jannik Sinner in the China Open semifinals

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Alex de Minaur was unable to stop Jannik Sinner after being beaten by the world number two in the China Open semifinals.

De Minaur was suggested to have an advantage against Sinner, particularly as his quarterfinal match with Jakub Mensik lasted only five games.

However, the Australian was unable to take advantage of this, even with Sinner seemingly struggling physically.

Sinner was full of praise for De Minaur’s performance in their semifinal, and the world number eight has now explained why he thinks he lost the match.

Alex de Minaur rues missed break point opportunities against Jannik Sinner

Sinner beat De Minaur, 6-3 4-6 6-2, to extend his dominant record against the Australian to 11-0.

However, this was the first time that De Minaur has won a set against Sinner, and he has since suggested that missed break points were the key reason why he lost the match.

“I mean, you take the positives,” De Minaur told press after the match. “Overall, I believe it was a match that he ended up winning because I had five minutes where I dropped my level, and it wasn’t even bad tennis, I just dropped it for a moment.”

He later added, “I’m proud of my efforts. I think it definitely comes down to the amount of break points I have and I’m not able to break. But ultimately, it was just Jannik being too good in those moments.”

De Minaur had 12 break point opportunities against Sinner, but he was only able to take one of those that helped him win the second set.

He can also take some solace from the fact that Sinner ended up winning the title after beating rising American teenager Learner Tien in the final.

Alex de Minaur could have an opportunity at the Shanghai Masters

While it was not the result that De Minaur would have been hoping for, the 26-year-old now has an opportunity for a good run at the Shanghai Masters.

Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the Shanghai Masters, which means that he is no longer in the top half of the draw where De Minaur is placed.

De Minaur receives a bye to the second round as the seventh seed, where he could face a tricky opener against Cincinnati Open semifinalist Terence Atmane.

However, if he is able to come through that, De Minaur only has one top 10 player standing in his way until the semifinal.

The forecasted semifinal opponent for him would be Alexander Zverev, who De Minaur recently beat at the Laver Cup.

If De Minaur is to reach his second career Masters 1000 final then he could be reunited with Sinner, who is in the other half of the draw.

However, it is worth noting that the Shanghai Masters have historically been De Minaur’s worst performing ATP 1000 tournament and he has only won two of his five previous matches at the event.

The main draw of the Shanghai Masters has already got underway, with De Minaur not scheduled to begin his campaign until Saturday, October 4.