Australian Alex de Minaur has already identified how he can continue improving following Tuesday evening’s quarterfinals loss to world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz at Rod Laver Arena.
Following a competitive start, the 26-year-old suffered a 7-5 6-2 6-1 straight-sets loss to the “freakishly good” Spanish champion in Melbourne, his seventh-consecutive loss in a grand slam quarterfinal.
Despite climbing to a career-best No. 6 ranking, de Minaur has repeatedly been outclassed by Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the ATP’s two highest-ranked players, holding a 0-19 record against the duo.
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“Obviously proud to have made another quarter-final here, back to back, it wasn’t easy,” de Minaur told reporters during the post-match press conference.
“Would’ve loved to have given more out there tonight, a little bit disappointed by the performance.
“You try and do the right things, you try and keep improving, but when the results don’t come, when the scoreline doesn’t reflect those improvements, of course you feel quite deflated.”
To give himself the best chance of victory against the six-time grand slam champion, de Minaur went outside his comfort zone and played an aggressive brand of tennis that resulted in multiple errors.
“There were some good parts out there, but overall I’m playing out of my comfort zone and at times out of my skin,” he continued.
“For me to take that next step, I’ve got to be comfortable in playing that sort of way for the whole match, and that’s what it takes, to take it to the next level, especially against these types of guys.”
Alcaraz too good for De Minaur | 02:54
De Minaur acknowledged his baseline forehands and backhands are among the slowest on the tour, admitting he’ll need to make some “tweaks” to his gameplay to increase his ball speed.
“At the moment the way my natural groundstrokes are, they’re quite flat, and it’s quite difficult for me,” de Minaur explained.
“There’s a whole lot of risk for me to play at a very high ball speed.
“Jannik and Carlos, they have so many revolutions on the ball that they’re able to not only play at a higher speed but also have their consistency, because they’re able to get that spin that helps the ball come down and create different angles as well.
“I’m probably hitting the ball bigger than I’ve hit previously in these types of matches, but I’m still not able to kind of hit through (Alcaraz).
“Then he’s obviously got the ability to generate on command. If you leave one ball short, then the point’s over.”
Alcaraz will face Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open semi-finals on Friday.
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