Alex de Minaur has finally bowed out of the US Open after losing his quarterfinal with Felix Auger-Aliassime.
De Minaur knew Auger-Aliassime would be tough to beat, and that was the case as the Canadian triumphed 4-6, 7-6(9-7), 7-5, 7-6(7-4).
The Australian was taking on his first seeded opponent at the US Open, having dropped just one set in his previous four matches at the tournament.
But 25th seed Auger-Aliassime produced a superb display to knock out the ATP number eight, battling to a hard-fought win after four hours and 10 minutes.
He has been rewarded for his efforts on Arthur Ashe Stadium with a quarterfinal against Jannik Sinner, to be held at the same venue.
Alex de Minaur admits recurring problem in big matches after US Open loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime
Meanwhile, despite the Australian fighting hard, De Minaur will leave New York feeling hugely disappointed.
He said after the loss: “I’m looking at this like a wasted opportunity. It’s tough. Today was an opportunity to break new ground and I was nowhere near the level I needed to be at. That’s frustrating.
“I think the biggest thing for me is just my serve. My serve’s been letting me down in big matches. I put myself in position and gave myself every chance to extend this match again and be in the fifth set like I did against Novak [Djokovic] at Wimbledon.
“But it is pretty tough to win a high-quality match serving the way I did today. It’s something that needs to improve because if not, I’m going to put myself into a lot of trouble frequently against the top players in the later stages of these tournaments.”
Alex de Minaur says if could add an ‘external resource’ to help with his serve issues
De Minaur was visibly upset following his defeat, having once more failed to make it beyond the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.
The Australian has now reached that stage at every Grand Slam, including three times at the US Open, but no further.
And having identified his serving struggles as a major factor behind his latest exit, he was asked if looking into an external resource could help him in that regard.
| Felix Auger-Aliassime | Alex de Minaur | |
| 189 | Serve rating | 167 |
| 22 | Aces | 8 |
| 11 | Double Faults | 11 |
| 64%(95/148) | 1st Serve | 44%(71/163) |
| 82%(78/95) | 1st Serve Points Won | 76%(54/71) |
| 32%(17/53) | 2nd Serve Points Won | 50%(46/92) |
| 60%(6/10) | Break Points Converted | 56%(5/9) |
De Minaur replied: “It’s a good question. The thing is, going all the way towards this match, actually the serve is what has been getting me out of trouble at times.
“I have served quite well and got a lot of free points and it’s just in those big matches that is the first thing that kind of goes away.
“It’s a shame because the only thing that it does is create a lot more pressure on everything else and as the match goes on, I am playing with second serves and I’m on the back foot.
“I feel like I have got to do a little bit more and then I start missing groundstrokes, which I probably wouldn’t do.
“I think it all comes down to that serve. I am not ever expecting to serve like Felix, in a way, and serve 20 odd aces and get so many free points but at least for me percentage has got to be a lot, lot higher.
“I played way too many points out there with my second serve and as the match went on it was basically just starting the point on the back foot.”
De Minaur certainly wouldn’t be the first player to appoint a coach to help improve his serving on the court.
Coco Gauff hired Gavin MacMillan ahead of the US Open, with the biomechanics expert having previously helped Aryna Sabalenka in that area of her game.
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