Alex de Minaur‘s old mentor Wally Masur says he is “hurting” after the Aussie was bounced out of Wimbledon in a five-set thriller.
De Minaur held a two-set lead over Chile’s Cristian Garin and was up a break in the third set before a stunning comeback from the world No.43.
The Aussie had two consecutive match points late in the fifth set, but was unable to convert either, with Garin eventually prevailing in a super tiebreaker.
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The 23-year-old cut a frustrated figure after the match, admitting that the loss would be a tough one to get over.
“Everyone’s probably got to go out here and say you’re happy with the week, you’ve had a great week, you know, try to take the positives out of it, but realistically it stinks,” he said.
“It’s not gonna go away for a while. I’ll do my best to forget about but it’s probably not going to happen.
“I didn’t play the important points right. It’s been kind of a recurring sort of event for a while now. So it’s something I’ve got to improve on.
“At the end of the day two sets to love up, break points in the third, match points in the fifth. I mean, yeah, the match was full of chances, that’s for sure.”
Masur, who worked with de Minaur in his formative years as a junior, found the vision of a shattered de Minaur talking to the press hard to take.
“That hurts,” he told Stan Sports’ Grand Slam Daily.
“I knew Demon well, I’ve known him since he was 12. He trained at the Sydney Olympic Park, at the national academy, and I was coaching out there. I saw the kid get to the final Junior Wimbledon, saw him get his first ATP point, saw him (get) national representation playing Davis Cup.
“I’m waiting for him to push deep into a major. This was a big opportunity for him. I’m hurting. That was tough.”
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The draw had opened up on de Minaur’s side, particularly with world No.11 Matteo Berrettini – who was set to play Garin in the first round – pulling out after contracting COVID-19.
The loss means he misses out on an all-Australian quarter-final clash against Nick Kyrgios after the latter prevailed in his own five-set thriller against American youngster Brandon Nakashima.