Alex de Minaur reacts to 'disappointing' Dominic Thiem defeat

Alex de Minaur, 21, admitted he was disappointed with the way his US Open campaign finished after he suffered a straight-set defeat against No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem.

Thiem, ranked at No. 3 in the world, demolished world No. 28 de Minaur 6-1 6-2 6-4 to set up a semifinal clash against No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev.

"Yeah, look, obviously right now I can't really think hindsight. 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,de Minaur 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."

De Minaur also admitted Thiem put up a great performance and he really never had a chance to do something on the court.

"Yeah, well, as you said, he played a very solid match. The one kind of chance I had, I had a 15-30, then I had a let cord, which I'm not saying the match would have changed in any way, shape or form, but who knows. I just broke him, held from Love-40 down. If maybe I broke him 5-3 serving for the set, who knows," de Minaur added.

"He played well. I didn't get chances. The one little chance I got, I just got unlucky."

De Minaur wants to keep improving 

Making the US Open quarterfinal at the age of 21 is a positive step for de Minaur but he admits he has got a long way to go before he becomes the players he wants to be.

Also, de Minaur praised Thiem as he believes the Austrian is at the level where he can regularly compete for the biggest titles.

"Yeah, well, look, 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," de Minaur said.

"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."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3hkF1Ub