By Marc McGowan
Alex de Minaur’s top-10 ranking is at risk, and he is in doubt to play in next week’s Davis Cup finals, after his body failed him again in a straight-sets defeat in the US Open quarter-finals.
The serious hip injury that cost him from facing Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon quarter-finals in July came back to haunt him in his last-eight clash with impressive Brit Jack Draper, as he exited the New York major in a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 rout.
Australia’s Alex de Minaur went down to Jack Draper of Great Britain in straight sets.Credit: AP
Draper produced a top-class performance, but it was obvious from the outset that de Minaur was physically compromised, which robbed him of his famed movement and contributed to a litany of unforced errors.
The world No.10, who went almost seven weeks without playing a singles match after his Wimbledon setback, said after outlasting fellow Australian Jordan Thompson on Tuesday that he was feeling better every day, so he was as surprised as anyone with his condition against Draper.
Speaking after the loss, a downcast de Minaur was already showing overwhelming disappointment at the major opportunity squandered, given the absence of four-time grand slam champion Carlos Alcaraz.
He was reluctant to make excuses despite a series of questions about his fitness, and praised the much-improved Draper’s ability to spread the court and make him continuously move.
“I just want to say I’m very proud of myself, of what I’ve achieved, all things considered, [for] doing everything I could to be in this position, and today, it wasn’t meant to be – but I’m proud of my efforts,” de Minaur said.
“I wish I felt better, let’s just put it that way. It’s tough. It’s a big opportunity, it’s a big chance.
“I’d rather try and think about what I was doing six, seven weeks ago, and where I am now, and try to focus on that, instead of dwelling on what just happened and me potentially having one of the bigger opportunities of my career, and it just slipping away from my hands.”
De Minaur became the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt two decades ago to play in three slam singles quarter-finals in the same year, and this seemed his best chance yet to reach the final four for the first time.
The 25-year-old, who reached a career-high No.6 post-Wimbledon, not only boasted a 3-0 head-to-head record over 25th-ranked Draper entering the match, but the British rising star was comfortably the lowest-ranked player he had faced this deep in a major.
However, Draper blew de Minaur away from the start, and the scoreline did not do justice to how authoritative and dominant his performance was. He remains the sole player in the men’s draw yet to drop a set in the tournament.
Draper, 22, ended last year ranked 61 in the world but will surge inside the top 20 with his defeat of de Minaur, who will lose his top-10 ranking if Taylor Fritz wins his all-American semi-final with Frances Tiafoe, or if Tiafoe claims the title.
“I think I played a solid match,” Draper said.
Draper, 22, ended last year ranked 61 in the world but is set to surge higher following his US Open efforts.Credit: AP
“I feel the best, fitness-wise, I’ve been in a long time, and I think that’s where Alex has got me in the past. I also think he was maybe struggling a bit today with something, which may have helped me a little bit, but credit to Alex – he’s an amazing fighter and unbelievable player.”
De Minaur never looked the best version of himself in New York, in the aftermath of the cartilage tear in his right hip that resulted in him withdrawing before his Wimbledon quarter-final at the apex of his breakout season.
The only competitive matches he played in between the two grand slams were in doubles alongside Alexei Popyrin at the Paris Olympics, and only because it was his dream to be an Olympian, and he prioritises representing Australia.
De Minaur could not confirm on Thursday that he would be ready to play in the round-robin stage of next week’s Davis Cup finals, where Australia will meet Spain, France and Czech Republic in Valencia.
The positive for Hewitt, Australia’s Davis Cup captain, is that Popyrin, Thompson and Thanasi Kokkinakis are all in form and viable alternative singles options if de Minaur is unable to compete.
“I really don’t know. I was not expecting today, if I’m honest,” de Minaur said.
“Everything was trending in the right direction, and now I don’t know. That’s the honest answer, so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how, with a couple of days [off], it pulls up.”
De Minaur forlornly admitted early in the fortnight that he would have to be selective about which balls he attempted to chase down, which goes against everything he is about as a player.
Draper paid credit to his opponent: “He’s an amazing fighter and unbelievable player.”Credit: AP
He looked vulnerable in his first-round win over Marcos Giron; trailed 5-2 in his next match before beating Otto Virtanen; was a set-all with Dan Evans in the third round before the veteran Brit’s lengthy earlier matches took their toll; then eked out a challenging four-set triumph over Thompson.
There was no escaping in the quarter-finals – but not for a lack of trying.
The problem was Draper not only owns a fearsome lefty serve capable of dragging opponents off the court, but also much more power off the ground than de Minaur, along with the ability to still hang in rallies with the dogged Aussie.
De Minaur hurt himself in the early going with a raft of uncharacteristic unforced errors – most of them off his forehand, and many thudding into the net.
He had five winners compared with 13 unforced errors and made only 41 per cent of first serves by the time he lost the opening set. Only de Minaur’s almost peerless mental fortitude enabled him to have any chance at all, and there was an unlikely, slight opening for him late in the second set.
After handing over another early break, he twice wriggled out of unenviable 0-40 holes, then benefited from a wild Draper service game to get back on level terms.
But everything looked so hard for de Minaur, who held for 5-4 – his sole lead of the match – before falling behind again on serve at five-all. He relented this time, dumping another forehand into the net after a rock-solid point from Draper.
Draper, who had his right hamstring strapped after the third game of the second set, breezed to a two-sets-to-love advantage, a deficit de Minaur has never recovered from.
De Minaur had a difficult day in the US Open quarter-finals.Credit: AP
They both held through the opening four games of the third set, but de Minaur faced triple break point again and could save only one of them.
Draper crashed an inside-in forehand winner to break for 3-2, and steamed to the finish line as he prepares to face world No. 1 and Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, who eliminated Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 in their third major clash this year.
“Today wasn’t ideal. As I said, I was expecting to feel better. I was trending in the right direction, and today was a little bit the opposite of that,” de Minaur said.
“But, yeah, it’s fine. I dealt with it after Wimbledon. I’ll deal with it after here, and I’ll be back in no time, and hopefully sliding from side to side with not a thought in my head.”
Just one grand slam winner – dual Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka – is left in the women’s draw, with sixth-seeded American Jessica Pegula upsetting world No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-4 to reach her maiden semi-final at this level.
Pegula will meet resurgent Czech Karolina Muchova, whose barnstorming return from a wrist injury continued with a 6-1, 6-4 demolition of Brazilian 22nd seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.
The other semi-final pits Belarusian second seed and 2023 runner-up Sabalenka against another American, 13th seed Emma Navarro.
Watch every match of the 2024 US Open ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport with select matches live on 9GO and streaming on 9Now.