Alex de Minaur issued a brutal putdown to a Novak Djokovic superfan on social media following his one-sided loss to Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
The 25-year-old was the crowd favourite in Melbourne but was unable to lay a glove on Sinner, who cruised to a routine 6-3 6-2 6-1 victory. He will face Ben Shelton in the last four, with the winner playing either Djokovic or Alexander Zverev in the final.
De Minaur was certainly nowhere near his best against Sinner, with the Aussie’s fate being sealed in less than two hours. After coming off the court, he was heavily criticised by a fan on social media but quickly fired back with a tetchy response.
@pavyg, a vocal supporter of Djokovic on X (formerly Twitter), wrote: “Alex De Minaur has zero self belief that he can even compete with Sinner let alone beat him. Awful performance from him.”
It clearly touched a nerve with De Minaur, who hit back: “Hey mate it’s a shame that you never became a good enough player to experience playing Jannik.”
He sarcastically added: “I’m sure you would’ve put up a better performance and know exactly how to beat him. Wishing you all the best!!!”
De Minaur admitted that he was hurting in his post-match interview after losing to Sinner, using the words ‘bloody good’ to describe his opponent.
“It’s been too many times playing him and seeing the same thing, so I’m not even surprised anymore when I face him, matches like these happen,” he said.
“With the conditions a little bit slower and a little bit later at night, it’s pretty tough to make him miss or hurt him. I just need to sit with my team and figure out a way to hurt Jannik on the court.
“That’s ultimately the way we’ve got to look at it and find different ways because at the moment we don’t have it. So, back to the drawing board, like I’ve done my whole career.”
De Minaur went on to insist that he is good enough to win a Grand Slam title, but conceded that he would need to get lucky with a draw to stand a realistic chance.
“Right now my worst matchup on tour is probably Jannik, there’s a head-to-head that doesn’t lie,” he explained. “If I’m in a different side of the draw, different little section, then who knows? I genuinely think I’m going to give myself opportunities.
“I don’t think my peak is making the quarter-finals in a Slam. I see other players that have made it further, have made semis, have made finals, and I do believe that I can be amongst them. If they have been able to accomplish that, then why not me?”
