Alex de Minaur left the court after a hard-fought loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime at the US Open, 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5, 7-6(4), reflecting on a missed opportunity to make a deeper run. “Right now I’m looking at this as a wasted opportunity. It’s tough,” de Minaur admitted on his press conference. The Australian has been remarkably consistent in recent years, often reaching the quarterfinals of major tournaments, but advancing beyond that stage has remained elusive. Today’s match, filled with tension and tight points, underscored the fine margins between victory and defeat at the highest level.
De Minaur was candid about his struggles on key points. “The biggest thing for me has been my serve. My serve has been letting me down in big matches,” he said. Despite putting himself in positions to extend rallies and fight back, he couldn’t find the consistency needed to challenge Auger-Aliassime. “I played too many points with my second serve, and as the match went on, I was starting points on the back foot too often,” he added, highlighting how serving under pressure can change the course of a match.
Even when he did manage moments of control, de Minaur found them fleeting. “There were some good moments, but they didn’t last long,” he said, describing how fleeting momentum allowed his opponent to take the crucial points. His baseline game remained solid, but small lapses and tight moments in tie-breaks ultimately tilted the match in Auger-Aliassime’s favor. For de Minaur, it was another instance of reaching the quarterfinal stage but not being able to go further. Frustration was evident, yet de Minaur maintained perspective. “It’s tough. You work so hard and constantly put yourself in positions to prove people wrong, but yet again, it slips away,” he said. He acknowledged that the loss was particularly frustrating because he felt the match was within his grasp. Still, he stressed that the experience provides lessons to carry forward into the next tournaments.
