Alex De Minaur on Carlos Alcaraz’s latest defeat: ‘I’m playing outside my comfort zone’ | ATP Tour

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De Minaur on recent Alcaraz defeat: ‘I’m playing out of my comfort zone’

Australia lost to Alcaraz in straight sets

January 27, 2026

Frustrated and depressed, where can Alex de Minaur turn after another heartbreaking defeat to Carlos Alcaraz?

The sixth entered the field to face the World No. 1 in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after only one set in two days. De Minaur looked confident in straight sets wins against Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Bublik, and in some corners of the tennis world there was a quiet belief that the Australian might finally be able to upset Alcaraz and improve on his 0-5 Lexus ATP Head2Head record against the Spaniard.

In short, that belief felt justified. De Minaur matched Alcaraz’s intensity early on and stayed competitive with a high-quality first set, electrifying the crowd inside the Rod Laver Arena. But as the top seeds progressed, the competition quickly tilted in its usual direction. Alcaraz cruised to a 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory in two hours and 15 minutes, once again exposing the gap De Minaur is still trying to close against the best.

The result left the Australian No. 1 with more questions than answers, not about effort or intent, but about execution at the highest level.

“Mentally or the way I dedicated myself to hitting the ball today, that’s what I wanted to do. I won’t be able to play it. I didn’t play the whole game,” said De Minaur about his performance. “There were some good parts out there, but overall, I play out of my comfort zone and sometimes I get out of my skin.

“Yeah, in order to take this next step, I have to be comfortable playing that way every game, and that’s what it takes, to take it to the next level, especially when I’m facing these kinds of guys.”

De Minaur has been out of the quarter-finals seven times, losing six times and exiting once due to injury. Although the 26-year-old believes he is approaching his peak, keeping up with the best is still a challenge.

“Just keep practicing, keep working on it, keep coming to the stage of commitment and playing at that level every time,” said De Minaur on how to make the next step. “Then there will be tweaks here and there that will allow me to increase the speed of the ball, because right now the way my natural groundstrokes are, they are flat, and it is difficult for me.

“There is a big risk that I play at too high a speed, and I feel like Jannik or Carlos, they have so much flexibility in the ball that they can not only play at a high speed but also have consistency, because they know how to get the spin that helps the ball go down and create different angles.”

Australia is proud, @alexdeminaur 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/8i3B4pHoWp

– #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2026

De Minaur has made significant progress in recent years. The 10-time tour-ranked contender ranks at a career-high No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings and has qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals the past two seasons. However he was unable to make a significant impact against Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner, losing all 19 matches contested between the two, a source of increasing frustration.

“You try to do the right things, you try to keep improving, but if the results don’t come or the result doesn’t show that improvement, then you feel relieved,” said De Minaur.

Alcaraz, aiming to complete the Career Grand Slam this weekend, has not dropped a set in Melbourne and has reached the semi-finals for the first time. De Minaur also accepted the challenge presented by the six-time major champion.

“Maybe I’m hitting a bigger ball than I’ve hit before in these types of matches, but I haven’t been able to hit it yet,” said De Minaur. “Then you obviously have the ability to produce by command. If you leave one ball short, the point ends. So you are playing at a very high level. I will be very surprised to see how the rest of the tournament plays out.

“I think he’s playing at a very high level. Ultimately, he’s No. 1 in the world for a reason.”