Alex de Minaur has finally bowed out of the Australian Open, falling at the quarterfinal stage to Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz praised De Minaur after winning their match 7-5, 7-6, 6-1 after two hours and 15 minutes of action at Rod Laver Arena.
De Minaur had the potential to upset Alcaraz, but the world number one ensured an upset was avoided with a professional, ruthless display.
The home favorite can exit the Australian Open with his head held high, while Alcaraz now turns his focus to Alexander Zverev.
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De Minaur was incidentally discussed in detail by former world number one Jim Courier just before his quarterfinal with Alcaraz.
He said on Tennis Channel: “The way that I look at Alex de Minaur is one, all the juniors out there should be emulating him.
“This is a guy who is maximizing everything that he’s got. He’s added in the chip backhand, especially down the line, the sidewinder. That’s been a nice addition to his game in the last couple of years. He’ll need some of that tonight.
“But for me, he is this generation’s David Ferrer. He is so, so good at beating everybody except the people in front of him in the rankings, which is a challenge simply because he’s a little bit smaller in size than most.
“He’s actually not really smaller than Alcaraz, but Alcaraz just outhits him. And that for me is the challenge for him. How does he find a way through those guys?
“Really he needs to be crafty. He needs to outsmart them. Because he just simply doesn’t have the grip on the forehand side to out-hit them.
“He can’t generate the kind of speed and spin that’s required to control it the way that the other guys with the semi-Western and the Western grips can.”
Alex de Minaur deserves credit despite disappointing Australian Open exit
While De Minaur will be disappointed to have gone crashing out of his home Grand Slam relatively early, he does deserve credit for his efforts.
He was handed one of the trickiest draws of the tournament, but he overcame tough tests against the likes of Alexander Bublik and Frances Tiafoe.
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But that resulted in a near-impossible quarterfinal task against Alcaraz, who has extra motivation in Melbourne.
He can not only complete the career Grand Slam, but the 22-year-old would be the youngest man in the Open Era to achieve the tremendous feat.
De Minaur was also under immense pressure as the biggest Australian hope, with his title dreams ended only by the number-one-ranked player on the ATP Tour.
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