ALEX De Minaur\u2019s Australian Open ended after he succumbed to Andrey Rublev in a five-setter on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old\u2019s eventual fourth-round exit came after he fought back from a set down to lead the contest 2-1 by the end of the third set.<\/p>\n
De Minaur, ranked 10th in the world, won both the second and third sets in tiebreakers before Rublev, ranked 5th, forced his way past the Aussie to claim the fourth and fifth sets with little trouble in claiming a 6-4, 6-7 (5\/7), 6-7 (4\/7), 6-3, 6-0 triumph.<\/p>\n
It was a disappointing end to a promising home Grand Slam for De Minaur who admits he expected more of himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe a couple of years ago, or even last year, I would be sitting here saying, \u2018I probably shouldn\u2019t have won, he\u2019s higher ranked than I am, I took him to five sets, pretty decent effort\u2019,\u201d he said post-match.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s completely changed because now I\u2019m sitting here and I\u2019m absolutely devastated because I saw it as a great opportunity and a match that I strongly believed I could have won.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it just slipped away.\u201d<\/p>\n
De Minaur\u2019s improved serving deserted his game as he made just 53 per cent of his first serves throughout.<\/p>\n
He concedes it is this specific area of his game that ultimately let him down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just was not finding first serves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn those crucial moments, I was giving him too many second serves and he was able to just swing freely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the defeat, De Minaur sees his recent form, which includes wins over world number one Novak Djokovic as well as Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz at the United Cup, as quite promising.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn due time I\u2019ll take the three top-10 wins at the United Cup, I\u2019ll take it as confidence,\u201d De Minaur said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m playing some great tennis. It\u2019s the start of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cImportantly, if I can keep this level throughout the whole year, I\u2019m quite confident that I\u2019ll be able to finish where I want to.\u201d<\/p>\n