Alex de Minaur speaks after his straight sets loss to Spain superstar Carlos Alcaraz at Melbourne Park

The 26-year-old then appeared distraught in the gym with his coach Adolfo Gutierrez and the rest of his team as he faced the end of the Australian Open for another year.

He entered the last eight matches in the best form of his career, but the extent of his struggles became clear as Alcaraz smashed seven wins in the first three matches; It was a menacing introduction that even the Spaniard described post-match as “a great level”.

De Minaur’s first winner did not come until the sixth game. By the end of the night, he had made 16 errors, accompanied by 29 simple errors. Alcaraz had 26 and 32 issues respectively, but even that didn’t tell the whole story.

“When I play [Alcaraz] I thought his level was freaking good in the showcase right before the tournament. “Tonight was pretty similar,” he said.

“I mean, he’s so strong, especially in those night conditions. He can generate so much power and his unforced errors are almost non-existent… I’m probably hitting bigger balls in those kinds of games than I’ve ever hit before, but I still can’t get past him.”

De Minaur did not help his cause by making only one of the opening seven first serves, which led to his immediate break.

Alcaraz got off to an inauspicious 3-0 start before the tide of the match turned. While the Spaniard fell away from his high standard in the first 10 minutes, de Minaur found a momentary foothold in the contest.

He forced the serve, the only way to do so on a night of constant pressure, which triggered the Australian’s best game. De Minaur refused to go too far behind the baseline and this allowed him to rush Alcaraz and eventually make some mistakes which helped him regain the break.

He made it 3-3 which caused mayhem at the Rod Laver Arena, even restricting Alcaraz to 0-30 in the next game.

But Alcaraz’s uncanny ability to thrive in these moments is part of why he is a six-time grand slam champion. After surviving that game, he pushed himself hard, knowing that this was a critical moment.

Alcaraz broke again and served for 5-3 in the first set, but de Minaur played his best game of the match. He hit a drop shot, then brushed aside Alcaraz’s lob attempt to set up two break points, and in the second, smashed a superb backhand winner down the line.

This was the fearless tennis that both Minaur and his coaches wanted. But it still wasn’t enough because Alcaraz always had an answer.

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De Minaur fell into a 0-40 hole trying to break the tie in the 12th game and won the next two points before missing a doable forehand on the net tape. He muttered to his team and pocketed the ball in disgust.

De Minaur’s best chance had come and gone and it hit home when Alcaraz broke away from a 0-30 match twice more to start the second set, defeating his opponent at both ends in a tense contest.

From then on he kept chasing forever, unable to quite keep up with the genius of Alcaraz, who found another rig whenever he wanted.

“Mentally-wise or in terms of the way I kicked the ball today, that’s what I set out to do. But I couldn’t really do it throughout the whole match,” De Minaur said.

“There were some good parts but overall I’m playing outside my comfort zone and sometimes outside of myself. I need to be comfortable playing that way throughout the whole match so I can take the next step and that’s what it takes to achieve that.” [go] to the next level, especially against those types of guys.”

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