Devastated Demon offers frank admission after fourth round exit
London: The post-mortem will be particularly difficult this time for Alex de Minaur, who contemplates another Wimbledon coming and going.
There were points and games that Flavio Cobolli took away from Minaur, just as the Australian player tried to serve the second set. But in other respects, too, Minaur had himself to blame: he was too risk-averse, too reluctant to approach goal, and sometimes even uncharacteristically lax.
De Minaur later said the same thing and admitted that he was playing with “the weight of the world” on his shoulders.
This could have been her best opportunity to advance beyond the quarter-finals at a grand slam, but instead her tournament ended in the fourth round, losing 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to this year’s Roland-Garros runner-up.
“I think one of us went out to win the match, the other one went out to avoid losing the match. It was pretty clear who was who,” said a devastated de Minaur, trying to hold back tears.
“It breaks me inside. That’s the truth of the matter. I put in many, many hours into my craft and countless years of living for moments like this. To not rise to that level is truly heartbreaking.”
The 2024 Wimbledon quarter-finalist’s much-scrutinized serve will be under the spotlight again after an ineffective performance in which she landed only half of her first serves and won less than 70 percent of them.
Ninth-seeded Cobolli, who had not taken a set from Minaur in his previous two matches, has reached the last eight of the All England club for the second year in a row and deserves it fully with his courageous play in the biggest moments. But it could have been very different.
De Minaur was on top for much of the first set but was unable to capitalize in the fourth game, including a misfire on a simple volley that could have created multiple break points.
He then dug himself into a hole of 0-40, committing three unforced errors from five in total, but climbed back to deuce – but Cobolli made him pay for it on the fourth break point of the game.
It was such a day for De Minaur. The world number 6 finished the second set ahead 5-2 and took the lead twice in the third set. Each time, Cobolli, not Minaur, rose to the occasion.
De Minaur, a seven-time grand quarter-finalist, said ahead of the event that he wanted to break new ground to prove to himself that he had improved.
He may still be in the top five after Ben Shelton’s shock first-round exit, but de Minaur said he felt closer to realizing his dreams two years ago after the defeat than he does now.
“Unfortunately it seems like [these types of defeats] keep coming. It is not easy to accept,” de Minaur said.
“You go through moments in your career where you feel like there are opportunities to take the next step, to get to the next level, to become an even better version of yourself. Constantly falling short, you start to doubt yourself and whether you can take that step and take the next step.”
“It’s probably a combination of me being hard on myself, but [also] being realistic. “Even though I’m in a great position, wanting more and not being able to achieve more is a battle I deal with every day.”
De Minaur appeared to be in trouble early in the second set when he dropped serve after a long game.
Facing a fourth break point, the two top-10 stars embarked on a 25-shot rally, but de Minaur resisted the urge to approach the net several times before sending a backhand wide of the baseline.
He immediately returned to his box and had a brief but heated verbal argument with his trainer Adolfo Gutierrez. No matter what was said or decided, de Minaur reemerged as a different player.
The fifth seed raced to the net on the first point of Cobolli’s next service game and made a mistake. Shortly after, a more aggressive de Minaur forced Cobolli to hit a forward forehand on the run. He then fired a hard, low volley to take the break back.
De Minaur held off a tight 3-2 fight before play was stopped for a second time when Cobolli was all 15, as an elderly supporter suffering from heat distress required medical attention.
The rivals, who were friends off the field, chatted in the shade, away from the London heat, all the while.
However, de Minaur came back into the game, forced his way to the goal and won the point with a hard volley. Two points later he was ahead 4-2. This looked like a turning point but Cobolli continued to find ways to persuade the Australian.
There are few more explosive shooters than Cobolli, who hit a backhand pass winner followed by another with a forehand to reduce Minaur to 0-30 as he tried to level the match at one set apiece.
De Minaur could not stop Cobolli and a tiebreaker was necessary to separate them. Trailing 1-2, de Minaur missed another first serve, but pulled the Italian player out of the court with an inside forehand.
Instead of driving home his advantage, De Minaur barely cleared the service box with a loose forehand before netting a backhand. The unforced error was one of 40 he made, but the cautious decision to take the shot earlier was more revealing.
After the game, De Minaur said that his childhood mentor Gutierrez would not make a coaching change and that he needed to handle pressure-filled situations better.
“I think tennis is there to win these kinds of matches… if I can play tennis and not worry about anything else,” he said.
“I couldn’t do that and that’s why I’m in this position right now. I’m either going to improve or we’re going to see the same results happen over and over again.”
De Minaur at least has some welcome diversion to distract him from defeat. He married his long-time partner, British actress Katie Boulter, days after Wimbledon ended.
On the other hand, the women’s quarter-final field has been determined; Marta Kostyuk, Jasmine Paolini, Linda Noskova and Elise Mertens won their fourth round matches.
Kostyuk ended Ashlyn Krueger’s run in the American qualifiers with scores of 6-4, 6-4; Paolini edged Alexandra Eala, conqueror of Iga Swiatek, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; Noskova defeated Madison Keys 6-4, 7-6 (7-2); Mertens defeated Marie Bouzkova with sets of 6-4, 6-4.
Australian duo Storm Sanders and Marc Polmans defeated Guido Andreozzi and Aldila Sutjiadi with sets of 7-6 (7-5) and 7-5 and reached the semi-finals in mixed doubles.
Marc McGowan traveled to London with the support of Tennis Australia.
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