"I’m playing out of my comfort zone": De Minaur left deflated after Alcaraz ends Australian Open run

The Australian Open was once again left without local players following the elimination of its last remaining hope: world No. 6 Alex de Minaur, who fell without appeal to world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1.

It was the second consecutive year that De Minaur bowed out in the quarterfinals in Melbourne — and the seventh time he has exited at the quarterfinal stage of a Grand Slam, still without setting foot in the semifinals of a major.

“Obviously, I’m proud to have made another quarterfinal here, back to back. It wasn’t easy,” he said. “I would have loved to have given a bit more out there tonight, but overall I’m a little disappointed with the performance.”

The Australian defeated rivals such as Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Bublik this week on his path to the quarterfinals. However, he once again crashed into Alcaraz, who now dominates the head-to-head 6–0. “It doesn’t feel amazing, I’ll tell you that. You try to do the right things and keep improving, but when the results don’t come or the scoreline doesn’t reflect those improvements, you feel quite deflated.”

In the first set, the Australian recovered from a break disadvantage twice. He found himself trailing 3–5 with Alcaraz serving, when he managed to earn a break that brought him back into the match — although in the end, the six-time Grand Slam champion overcame De Minaur’s constant comebacks.

“I’ve got to take something out of it, right? In terms of mentality and the way I committed to hitting the ball today, that’s what I set out to do,” De Minaur said. “I just couldn’t execute it for the whole match. There were some good parts out there, but overall I’m playing out of my comfort zone and, at times, out of my skin.”

The Australian acknowledged that he has the level of play to compete against opponents like Alcaraz, but that the challenge lies in sustaining it over long stretches of the match. “For me to take that next step, I’ve got to be comfortable playing that way for the entire match. That’s what it takes to move to the next level, especially against these types of guys.”

“You keep practicing, keep working at it, and keep getting to the stage of committing and playing at that level more frequently,” De Minaur stated. “There are also some tweaks here and there that are going to allow me to increase ball speed. At the moment, my natural groundstrokes are quite flat, and it’s difficult for me. There’s a lot of risk involved for me to play at very high ball speed.

“Players like Jannik and Carlos have so many revolutions on the ball that they’re able to play at higher speed while maintaining consistency. That spin helps the ball come down and creates different angles. There are things I need to look at and work out, but it is what it is.”

After another disappointment, De Minaur keeps his ambitions intact of taking a step forward in his career and fighting for Grand Slam titles. The world No. 6 recalled that his losses in Melbourne have often come against top-level opponents, and that he has even been competitive against them.

“You get back up. That’s what it is. I can look at this two ways. I’ve lost at the Australian Open to Rafa, Novak, Jannik twice, and now Carlos. I’m not losing many matches to players I shouldn’t be losing to. You just have to keep moving. As tough as it is when you get results like this, you get back up, get back on the horse, and that’s it.”

It was the sixth meeting between De Minaur and Alcaraz, three of them during the 2025 season. They had faced each other at the ATP Finals semifinals at the end of 2025, with Alcaraz winning in straight sets. They also played an exhibition during Australian Open Fan Week, where the Australian prevailed 6-4, 5-6 [10-3].

“To be honest, when I played him in the exhibition just before the tournament, I thought his level was already very good, and tonight was pretty similar. Especially in night conditions, he’s so strong. He generates so much force, and his unforced errors almost disappear.

“In the past, when conditions were quicker, I was able to get some reward from my flat groundstrokes, especially into the backhand wing. Today there wasn’t much reward. Maybe in the first set there were chances, with plenty of love-30 games on his serve, but after that, when it got heavier, it was tough for me to really hurt him.”

“The rallies start, and I’m probably hitting the ball bigger than I have in previous matches like this, but I’m still not able to hit through him. He can generate pace on command, and if you leave one ball short, the point is over. He’s playing at a very high level. I’ll be very interested to see how the rest of the tournament plays out, but he’s number one in the world for a reason.”

De Minaur exits the tournament and remains world No. 6. He will return to the courts in two weeks at the ATP 500 Rotterdam Open — a tournament where he will be the third seed and will once again share the draw with Alcaraz. Other top players in the field include Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Daniil Medvedev.