US OPEN: Aussie Alex de Minaur says he’s not satisfied after his quarter-final defeat but knows he can’t “flick the switch” to win Grand Slams

Aussie Alex de Minaur’s isn’t satisfied with his best ever Grand Slam performance and has vowed to get bigger and stronger in the wake of his quarter-final defeat at the US Open.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 09: Alex de Minaur returns a volley during quarter final loss to Dominic Thiem o Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP

Aussie Alex de Minaur’s isn’t satisfied with his best ever Grand Slam performance and has vowed to “keep on pushing” in the wake of his quarter-final defeat at the US Open.

The 21-year-old was blown off the court by bigger, stronger and more experienced second seed Dominic Thiem at Flushing Meadow going down in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

Disappointment was de Minaur’s overriding post-match feeling and the rising Aussie star said he would have like to “show more fight”.

He said he wanted make improvements as soon as possible and would “keep on pushing” to ensure his first quarter-final at a Grand Slam wouldn’t be his last.

“Obviously the way I’m feeling now, it’s just disappointed with the way my US Open campaign has finished. I would have loved to put more of a fight,” he said.

“He played at a very high level, and I wasn‘t able to lift mine up to meet his. Still got lots of, lots of things to work on. I guess that’s an upside.

“at the end of the day there‘s a big thing that you can kind of tell, and that’s the six years’ difference. I think that’s one of the biggest things you can just tell. Not just experience, but also physique, fitness. He’s grown into his body. Now I’ve got to match that.

“I‘m not satisfied with where I am. This is where I want to be, but I’m not satisfied just coming here and getting to quarters any more. I want to keep on pushing. I’ll strive for bigger and better things. I just got to keep improving.

“Hopefully with years to come I‘ll get bigger, I’ll get stronger, I’ll grow into my body a little bit more, then it will just be another level.

“Still, I don‘t want to wait for those couple years. I want to be making strides as soon as I can. I’ll put in all the work I can to keep putting myself in these positions.”

Behind from the outset, de Minaur tried to rally in the third set, even leading 4-3 at one stage, before succumbing to Theim’s power game.

Thiem needed just over two hours to dispatch De Minaur, whose serve was broken seven times.

For his efforts, de Minaur collected $584,000 for reaching his first Grand Slam quarter-final, an effort Aussie great Todd Woodbridge called “another step in the right direction”.

Super tournament @alexdeminaur best result in a major, another step in the right direction👍👏@usopen

— Todd Woodbridge (@toddwoodbridge) September 10, 2020

Thiem, a triple grand slam finalist, said the victory was not as easy as the scoreboard made it look.

“The first and second set second I guess it looks way easier on the scoresheet than it was actually,” he said.

“He came back great (in the third set).”

Now heading to Europe for the clay court season, de Minaur said he knows he still has a lot to work on.

“In a match like today, I think it was pretty clear the things I‘ve got to work on. It’s a step, a learning curve. I’ll learn from this like I’ve been doing my whole career,” he said.

“I wish I could just all of a sudden flick the switch and start winning slams. It‘s a slow process. I’ll keep learning and I’ll keep improving. That’s the only way to keep moving forward.”