Jannik Sinner dominates Alex de Minaur 6-3 6-2 6-1 to book semi-final spot

We were told that Alex de Minaur was ready to match it with the best now, but he failed miserably in the test that was Jannik Sinner and it left us all wanting another Aussie, writes Scott Gullan.

All we had heard over the past week was how much Alex de Minaur had improved.

The great Aussie hope was ready to win a grand slam, ready to put his big boy pants on and make a statement at Melbourne Park.

He isn’t.

De Minaur’s first quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open was a train wreck. Everything we’d been told, the improving serve, the greater power was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe it’s the Jannik Sinner hoodoo. Nine times previously the Aussie had faced off against the Italian and he’d lost all of them.

And to make matters worse about the 10th loss in a row, Sinner was supposedly on his death bed in the lead-up.

Jannik Sinner is 10/10 against the Demon. Picture: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

After showing worrying signs in his fourth round match where he was seen trembling at one change of ends, it was revealed later that the world No.1 had been sick the morning of the match.

That turned into rumours of pneumonia on Wednesday with reports his manager was trying to find tournament boss Craig Tiley in the hour before the scheduled start because the defending champion was in trouble.

He did show up on Rod Laver Arena and if that was a crook Sinner then heaven help us what he would have done to de Minaur if he was fully fit.

De Minaur’s run ends at the quarter-finals. Picture: Martin KEEP / AFP

As the match edged slowly towards its inevitable conclusion, sadly the mind drifted to Nick Kyrgios. For all of his failings - and there are plenty - the one thing he does possess is weapons and tricks.

Kyrgios scares his opponents. He does things others can’t on a court and while he more often than not beats himself, there is always a feeling that at any time he could string a fortnight of greatness together.

De Minaur was shown up again to lack any of those qualities which sadly leaves the local fans desperately needing Kyrgios to get fit and focussed because the alternative at the moment just doesn’t cut it.

DEMON AT A LOSS FOR ANSWERS AGAINST SINNER

A shattered Alex de Minaur says he feels like he’s been slapped across the face after a horror quarter-final loss to defending champion Jannik Sinner.

Australia’s best player said he simply had no answers to the world No.1 who has now defeated him 10 times in a row.

“It’s been too many times playing him and seeing the same thing,” De Minaur said. “So I’m not even surprised anymore when I face him. Matches like these happen.

Jannik Sinner has de Minaur’s number. Picture: Michael Klein

“Obviously the whole country wanted me to do well. I wanted to do well here.

“I thought I handled it really well to put myself in this position. I would have loved to do more today, but this is what happens sometimes in tennis.

“Look, the negative is after playing some great tennis on home soil and gaining so much, you feel like you just have been slapped across the face, to be honest, to finish off like that.

“I guess the other positive is it’s not the first time that I’ve felt that. I felt the same thing when I played Novak (Djokovic) a couple of years ago.

“So, hey, I’ll survive. I’ll keep improving. And if anything, I just need to sit with my team and figure out a way to hurt Jannik on the court. That’s ultimately the way we’ve got to look at it and find different ways because at the moment we don’t have it.

“So back to the drawing board, like I’ve done my whole career. As I said, I still don’t think this is my ceiling. I still think I’ve got more in the tank. So I’ll be searching for that.”

De Minaur has made the final eight at his last four Grand Slams. Picture: Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP

De Minaur said Sinner was by far his worst match-up particularly when conditions were cooler and slower like they were on Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday night.

“By match-up, I think he’s probably my worst matchup, and you can see it in the head-to-head,” he said.

“In these types of conditions it’s even tougher to play against him. So you go out there, you compete, you try everything. You bring every sort of different look that you can.

“But in these types of conditions where it’s a little bit colder and you can’t really get the ball out of his strike zone, he can just unload and not miss. It’s tough.

“You know, I think if we’re playing in the middle of the day on a stupidly hot day, then that’s when you can see some errors come out, and that’s when you probably see Jannik not play at his best. But conditions like today, it’s tough to rattle him at all.”

De Minaur, who moved to No.7 in the world rankings and has now made the quarter-finals at the last four grand slams, believes he still has the scope to make it to the final Sunday.

“Tennis is so much about matchups, right? If I’m in a different side of the draw, a different little section, then who knows?” he said.

“I genuinely think I’m going to give myself opportunities, and I don’t think my peak is making quarterfinals in a slam.

“I see other players that have made it further, have made semis, have made finals, and I do believe that I can be amongst them, right? If they have been able to accomplish that, then why not me?”

Originally published as Jannik Sinner dominates Alex de Minaur 6-3 6-2 6-1 to book semi-final spot