Alex de Minaur now has an opening in his Wimbledon draw after the shock defeat of Ben Shelton.
De Minaur has never been past the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam before, having suffered seven previous defeats at this stage of a major.
However, as De Minaur is not in the same half of the draw as Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, he has a big opportunity to end this unwanted record, particularly after Ben Shelton’s shock defeat at Wimbledon.
After De Minaur beat Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, he was asked if he now feels like he has a big opportunity following Shelton’s exit from Wimbledon.
Alex de Minaur claims being ranked higher ‘means nothing’ after reacting to Ben Shelton defeat
De Minaur did not want to get too drawn into this topic of conversation and was fully focusing on his upcoming match against either Kamil Majchrzak or Zachary Svajda, both of whom have had breakthrough results over the past month.
The world number six then went on to claim that being a higher-ranked player ‘means nothing’ when you step on court.
“I mean, the way I look at it is I’m in the third round, right? I want to go deep, of course,” De Minaur responded in his press conference. “I want to give myself that opportunity. But sadly, as much as I would love to just jump a couple steps and put myself already in that Sunday match, there’s lots of matches and lots of tough moments that I’ve got to get through, right?
“So the way I really look at it is, yeah, I only got told who I was playing in the next round at the end of my match. I will see how they go today. If I play Kamil, I played him recently, so I will be looking to hopefully get my revenge on him. He’s been playing some great tennis, being very confident.
“So I learnt a couple of things from the match we played. If I play Svajda, it’s going to be the first time we play each other. So again, anything can happen.
“But the same way, we see, right. Seeds lose. Upsets happen. This sport is unpredictable. It’s not straightforward, so whether you’re ranked higher than your opponent, it really means nothing when you go into the match. You both start the same. It’s just another match.”
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Alex de Minaur reveals what he has learned about playing Grand Slams after previously getting ‘frustrated’
De Minaur has had a mixed grass court season so far, but has made an impressive start to Wimbledon after winning both of his first two matches in straight sets.
Despite his impressive start to the grass court major, De Minaur has revealed what he has learnt about pacing his way through major tournaments to peak for the latter stages following previous frustrations.
“Yeah, one of the things I have learned in early stages of my career, I was a little bit too tough on myself, wanting to start these tournaments at the highest level possible,” said De Minaur.
“And often I would just get frustrated and let kind of negative feelings kind of not allow me to get through some tough moments, right?
“What I have learned is ultimately the first week is all about trying to survive and advance, right? It doesn’t matter how you do it, whether it’s pretty, whether it’s ugly, whether you play your best match or your worst match. As long as you get through, you give yourself a chance.
“And I feel like once the first week finishes, that second week is a little bit of a reset, and then it’s, like, okay, now you’ve got to kind of shift the mindset, and now you’re playing to kind of go deep, right, or win the tournament, right. That’s, I guess, the two mindsets.
“The first week, it’s surviving and finding ways, digging deep, no matter what is thrown at you. And then the second week is where you can enjoy yourself a little bit more.”
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De Minaur’s best result at Wimbledon came in 2024, when he reached the quarter-finals but was unable to take to the court for his match against Djokovic.
The Australian will be hoping to better this result this year, but first De Minaur will need to overcome either Majchrzak or Svajda in the third round on Saturday, July 4.
