Alex de Minaur exited his home Slam after being handed a comprehensive defeat by Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open on January 23. The nine-time former champion dropped just five games en route to a 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 victory that booked him a spot in the quarterfinals.
The dominant nature of the win came as a surprise to many, who expected DeMinaur to put up a stronger fight against Djokovic.
The Serb has been battling a hamstring injury of late. He has taken a couple of medical timeouts to get his hamstring looked at in his last few matches. However, his movement on the court has held up superbly overall.
De Minaur was asked about his opponent’s effortless sprinting around the court during his post-match press conference. He said he thought that Djokovic was moving “pretty well” for someone nursing a hamstring injury.
“I don’t know. You tell me how you thought he looked out there. Playing him, I thought he was moving pretty well, so… I don’t know,” Alex DeMinaur. “Look, I don’t know. I think everyone’s kind of seeing what’s been happening over the couple weeks. It’s the only thing everyone’s been talking about.”
The Aussie conceded that his opponent was too good in all aspects of the game. He also claimed that either he wasn’t good enough to exploit Djokovic’s hamstring injury or that the Serb did not have any issues with it to begin with.
“Today I was out there on court against him,” Alex de Minaur continued. “Either I’m not a good enough tennis player to expose that, or… it looked good to me. He was just too good in all aspects.”
“Never really got my teeth into the match” – Alex de Minaur after Novak Djokovic loss
Shifting focus onto his performance, Alex de Minaur said he never managed to get his teeth into the match and felt “constant pressure” while out on the court.
The Aussie added that Novak Djokovic played a classic Novak match where he was solid in all aspects and did not give anything away.
“I think what makes Novak Novak, at the end of the day, how solid he is, his movement, his end range gets, what he’s able to do with that, the depth he’s able to keep,” Alex de Minaur said. “It just felt like constant pressure today.”
“Every service game I had, wasn’t getting free points. It felt like an uphill battle from the start. Never really was able to get my teeth into the match, make it tough for him, or bring the pressure moments and situations,” he added.
The Serb will now take on Andrey Rublev in the 2023 Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, January 25.
#Novak #Djokovic #looked #good #Alex #Minaur #dismisses #concerns #Serbs #Australian #Open #injury
