Alex de Minaur can hold his head high after his run at the Australian Open, despite falling at the quarterfinal stage.
Boosted by the Australian Open fans, De Minaur enjoyed a lengthy stay in Melbourne, which was ended only by the number one player in the world.
In fact, De Minaur drew big praise from Carlos Alcaraz right after the ATP number one won their clash at Rod Laver Arena 7-5, 6-2, 6-1.
While it was an ultimately disappointing scoreline, the Spanish superstar has been in formidable form so far at the Australian Open, where he hasn’t dropped a set.
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Alex de Minaur remains positive despite Australian Open exit
Despite such disappointment, particularly given that it was in front of his own fans, it was truly refreshing to hear De Minaur’s upbeat attitude.
His exit also meant he still hasn’t made it beyond the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, but the Australian remains confident of making the step up, which is a very positive step in itself.
He said after the loss: “I mean, you get back up, right? That’s what it is. I mean, yeah, I can decide to look at it two different ways, right?
“I can look at it the fact that, you know, I’m losing to… at the Australian Open, I’ve lost to Rafa [Nadal], Novak [Djokovic], Jannik [Sinner] twice, now Carlos.
“I’m not losing too many matches to players I possibly shouldn’t lose to, right? Yeah, you just got to keep on moving. It’s the only way.
“I mean, as tough as it is when you get results like this, you get back up, you get back on the horse, and that’s it.”
Alex de Minaur must find a way to end Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz nightmare
As De Minaur mentioned, the quality of the players knocking him out in Melbourne over the years has been world-class.
Nadal, Djokovic and Sinner are all multiple Australian Open champions, while Alcaraz needs only that title to complete the career Grand Slam.
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There is, therefore, no shame in losing to such world-class opposition, but at the same time it should force a big realisation upon De Minaur.
He knows he can beat players ranked below him, but the world number six must now beat those above him.
Of course, it’s much easier said than done, but another loss of this nature does look like representing a hugely significant moment in his entire career.
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What is Alex de Minaur’s ceiling?
Either he accepts that beating the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz is an impossible task, or he continues his very positive attitude of going again and doing all he can behind the scenes to finally get one over on one or both superstars.
He’s certainly not the only one in that position, but his 0-13 record against Sinner and now 0-6 record against Alcaraz is particularly worrying.
Of course, the Australian could get a lucky break by avoiding the duo in Grand Slam draws, but ultimately it is much more likely that he’ll need to beat them instead.
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