Alex de Minaur ‘cannot break out of this cycle’ after ‘wasted opportunity’ of French Open
Alex de Minaur said it felt like he had “wasted an opportunity” after he was defeated by Jakub Mensik in the third round of the French Open.
The injury withdrawal of Carlos Alcaraz followed by the exits of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic has presented many players usually kept at arm’s length of grand slam titles the chance to win in Paris but De Minaur will not be one of them after his surprise defeat at the hands of the No 26 ranked Mensik.
The Australian took the first set 6-0, suggesting a quick passage into the fourth round was on the cards, but failed to win more than three games in the next three sets.
After, De Minaur said it felt like an opportunity had been missed.
“Where I am now, I feel like I wasted an opportunity,” he said. “And as I said, you don’t often get these kinds of opportunities.
“I play these great players, and I feel like the door was slammed in my face. When you have an opportunity like this, you have to be able to seize it, and I did the exact opposite today.”
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De Minaur has never gone past the quarter-final stage of a Grand Slam and suggested he was stuck in a “cycle” that he felt unable to break free of.
“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “I missed opportunities. I made mistakes, I let him back into the match. Then it’s like what’s been happening for a month: I can’t break out of this cycle.
“That’s not like me at all. Because in all circumstances, this is the kind of match where I have to find a way to win. It was a physical battle and I’m perfectly fresh.
“What’s been happening for a month are things that have never happened to me in my career. I’m trying to find the reasons and the solutions, but I’ve never faced this kind of problem before.
“I feel like I’m still the person who, like a dog with a bone, never gives up, goes all the way. I don’t really understand what happened, what I did, what changed. I let him back in.”
The departure of Sinner and Djokovic has opened the door for an unlikely winner, one of which could be Flavio Cobolli who was aware of the opportunity presented to him.
“There’s a different atmosphere, especially since the two strongest players are no longer here, and now Novak isn’t either,” he said.
“When you walk through the locker room, you can tell that an opportunity has opened up for everyone, and everyone wants to take advantage of it. We’re all ready to fight for every point and try to get something important out of this tournament.”
