Alex de Minaur shows true colours after losing to Jack Draper in US Open quarter-final
Alex de Minaur was beaten by British No. 1 Jack Draper in the final Grand Slam of the year in New York.
Alex de Minaur gave a refreshingly honest appraisal of his opponent Jack Draper after he was beaten by the British No. 1 in the US Open quarter-final on Wednesday.
Draper has reached the last four of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career after knocking out the world No. 10 with a marvellous 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 22-year-old has been in inspired form in New York and is yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows, with the youngster now preparing for a tough clash against world No 1 Jannik Sinner for a place in Sunday's final.
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De Minaur had only words of praise for the 25th seed after being beaten in straight sets, pointing to his upward trajectory on the ATP Tour from when they last faced each other.
"I think Jack has continuously improved every time we've played. Every year he's gotten better," De Minaur said after the match.
"He has the right work ethic. He's a great guy, great competitor, and he's doing the right things. He's got weapons, he knows how to use those weapons effectively. And look, he's yet to lose a set in this tournament, so he's got to be doing something right."
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Going into the last-eight tie, De Minaur had been hampered by a hip problem that forced him to pull out of his Wimbledon clash with Novak Djokovic in July. The Australian, 25, admitted he didn't feel 100 per cent against Draper but felt he could have won the match and insisted he was proud with his performance.
"Sure, I wish I felt better, let's just put it that way," De Minaur said, referring to his injury. "It's tough. It's a big opportunity, it's a big chance.
"I'd rather try and think about what I was doing six, seven weeks ago, and where I am now, and try to focus on that instead of dwelling on what just happened and me potentially having one of the bigger opportunities of my career and it just slipping away from my hands. So I'm going to stick with the positives that I'm proud of myself."
When asked if he should have retired from the match, he said: "No, stopping didn't cross my mind at any stage. It's not part of me, part of my DNA, I don't like it, if I'm honest. I'm always going to give my best.
"It could have been naive of me, but I genuinely thought that there was a chance [of winning] even in that last game going in. I thought that there was a chance that I was going to change the match around and go out there and and win it.
"So at every stage in that match, I gave myself a shot, with my attitude, with my mindset, to go out there. I had some chances, as well, that who knows if I would have taken them, then maybe I would still be on court right now.
"So retiring, that's not part of me. I think over my career, you'll very rarely witness that."
