Alex de Minaur loses after match points against Cristian Garin

Alex de Minaur lost an epic five-set classic to deny an all-Australian quarterfinal match-up at Wimbledon.

Alex de Minaur of Australia plays a forehand in his loss to Cristian Garin at Wimbledon on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

Alex de Minaur lost an epic five-set classic to deny an all-Australian quarterfinal match-up at Wimbledon.

De Minaur was up two sets and at one point had two match points, but was beaten by a never-say-die effort from Cristian Garin of Chile in a gruelling four-and-a-half-hour match on Monday.

The scoreboard was 2-6, 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, 7-6.

De Minaur was extremely disappointed not to go deeper into the second week of Wimbledon but the intense effort he injected into the match cannot be understated.

He scurried around the court, from the net to the baseline, forehand to backhand on every point, stretching Garin for the entire match.

Late in the match de Minaur even dived a full body length to get one return and sliced his little finger as a result, requiring it to be taped up.

But Garin said he believed his aggressiveness, coming to the net and taking sharper angles proved to be the difference. But how close it was.

De Minaur quickly notched up the first set, but had a tougher struggle in the next sets. He won the second and was just six points away from victory in the third, which involved a tie-breaker, when Garin rallied. Then followed two hours of gripping play, broken service games by both players and long baseline rallies.

Garin said: “I gave everything I had, that was a very tough fight, it was a battle, Alex is an incredible player, for men he is one of the best on grass … but I am stuffed.”

Garin has now set up a quarterfinal clash, possibly against Nick Kyrgios, who was battling a shoulder complaint, including having several medical timeouts, in his centre court match against American Brendon Nakashima.