Alex de Minaur lamented one other misplaced alternative in a significant quarterfinal as serving lapses proved pricey in a slim loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime on the US Open.
New York, USA, 4 September 2025 | Matt Trollope
Wednesday was a irritating day on the US Open for Alex de Minaur, who exited the event on the quarterfinal stage after 4 dramatic units in opposition to Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The Australian star prolonged the match for 4 hours, 10 minutes, together with an 87-minute second set – the longest of the boys’s event in 2025 – and by no means stopped combating at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
However in the end, the previous world No.6 had too many weapons and was steadier within the largest moments to achieve his first Grand Slam semifinal in 4 years.
“Proper now, I’m taking a look at this like a wasted alternative. It’s powerful,” De Minaur admitted. “There’s no different means I’m in all probability gonna take care of this, however simply seeing it straight, and that’s what as we speak was. Right now was a chance to interrupt new floor. I used to be nowhere close to the extent I wanted to be at.
“That’s irritating, since you don’t get these probabilities typically.”
This was De Minaur’s sixth Grand Slam quarterfinal look, however simply his fifth match, given his withdrawal from his Wimbledon 2024 encounter in opposition to Novak Djokovic attributable to a hip harm.
Auger-Aliassime, at world No.27, represented the lowest-ranked of any of his earlier quarterfinal opponents for De Minaur, who gained his first set in a significant quarterfinal when he took the opener in opposition to the Canadian.
He then held a set level within the second-set tiebreak and led the fourth set 5-2 – serving for it within the following recreation – just for Auger-Aliassime to peg him again every time.
“It is rather powerful when you could have labored so exhausting for one thing and also you consistently are placing your self in positions to, in a means, show folks flawed,” De Minaur mentioned. “However but once more, you type of fall, and particularly this time, it’s a tricky one to take. I imply, there isn’t a beating across the bush. It’s a kind of matches that I might like to play once more.
“There are different instances that the opponent has loads to say. I’ve performed quarterfinals the place I performed Jannik [at Australian Open 2025], and he was simply too good, proper, and there’s probably not a lot I might have carried out. However I really feel like this one was on my racquet, and it’s a disgrace.
“I don’t understand how I’ll deal with it. I’m undoubtedly, as of proper now, seeing purple, however yeah, I’ll recover from it. It’s simply tennis, proper?”
Whereas the world No.8 will take time to course of the defeat and work his means by means of the feelings accompanying it, one factor he’ll look to deal with instantly is his serve.
De Minaur landed solely 42 per cent of first serves for the match – a proportion that dropped as little as 34 within the first set, and 35 within the third – and his eight aces had been offset by 11 double faults.
Auger-Aliassime additionally dedicated 11 double faults, however slammed 22 aces amongst 51 whole winners, and was capable of finding his serve and venomous forehand when he wanted it most.
“My serve’s been letting me down in massive matches,” admitted De Minaur, who mentioned he steadily discovered himself on the again foot in factors as a result of Auger-Aliassime received so many seems at his second serves.
“I put myself in and gave myself each probability to increase this match once more and be within the fifth set like I did in opposition to Novak at Wimbledon [this year in the fourth round]. However I imply, it’s fairly powerful to win a high-quality match serving the way in which I did as we speak.
“It’s one thing that should enhance, as a result of if not, I’m going to place myself into a whole lot of bother steadily in opposition to the highest gamers within the later phases of those tournaments.”
Impressively, De Minaur has now reached the quarterfinals in New York 3 times, and got here nearer than ever to his first main semifinal – a stage no Australian man has reached on the US Open since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005.
Though he was struggling to see any positives, the 26-year-old defended his factors from final 12 months, stays at No.8 within the dwell rankings and rises to seventh place within the ATP Finals factors race.
“If I’m wanting again at this entire US Open marketing campaign, I’ve received to be trustworthy with myself. I haven’t felt at my finest by way of how I’ve been taking part in on the court docket,” he mentioned. “I really feel like I’ve carried out precisely what I wanted to do to get the job carried out, however I haven’t actually felt snug on the court docket. Right now was one other match of precisely that.
“Then clearly you add the state of affairs, you add moments within the match, and you then’ve received a bit of little bit of rigidity, and all of that simply drops the extent down considerably.
“There have been some good moments, however they didn’t final lengthy. It’s a disgrace, as a result of … I get that fourth set, and I’m in a superb place, as a result of bodily I’m feeling nice, I’m able to go, and I’m type of hoping that momentum goes to go my means.
“However, yeah, it’s one other type of alternative that simply slips away.”
