Australian Open 2020: 'Devastated' Alex De Minaur pulls out of first grand slam of the season with injury
Alex de Minaur, the Australian number one, who was also forced to pull out of this week’s Adelaide International, said he had suffered a “four-centimetre Grade 2” abdominal tear representing his country at the ATP Cup.
-
De Minaur, who reached the third round at Melbourne Park and won three ATP Tour titles last year, conceded that despite intensive treatment, he was just not in a position to compete
-
So desperate was he to play, De Minaur pondered serving under-arm but was persuaded not to take to the court for fear of making the injury worse.
-
De Minaur said he first felt the injury early on in Australia’s ATP Cup campaign — in which he registered singles victories over Alexander Zverev and Denis Shapovalov
Melbourne: World number 21 Alex de Minaur was forced to pull out of the Australian Open on Thursday with an abdominal injury, robbing the men’s singles draw of one of its strongest local challengers.
The Australian number one, who was also forced to pull out of this week’s Adelaide International, said he had suffered a “four-centimetre Grade 2” abdominal tear representing his country at the ATP Cup.
File image of Alex de Minaur. AP
The 20-year-old, who reached the third round at Melbourne Park and won three ATP Tour titles last year, conceded that despite intensive treatment, he was just not in a position to compete at his home Grand Slam.
“It’s not a joke, it’s something real serious ... even getting out of bed hurts, every day activity hurts,” he told reporters at Melbourne Park.
“It’s not great. Not going to lie. Obviously, it’s a week of the calendar that I really look forward to and put in all the hard work for, so it’s pretty devastating to miss out on my home slam.”
So desperate was he to play, De Minaur pondered serving under-arm but was persuaded not to take to the court for fear of making the injury worse.
“I just did not want to miss playing here,” he said.
“Even though it killed me, it’s the right decision. Now I’ve just got to look at what’s ahead.”
De Minaur said he first felt the injury early on in Australia’s ATP Cup campaign — in which he registered singles victories over Alexander Zverev and Denis Shapovalov — and did not regret playing through the pain in his country’s cause.
While local Ash Barty will be top seed in the women’s singles, Nick Kyrgios will now be the top ranked Australian in the men’s draw at world number 26.
“It is tough news, hopefully fingers crossed it’s nothing too serious and he can recover as soon as possible,” Kyrgios told reporters.
“I had a feeling he was going to do some big things this Australian Open the way he was playing ...”
Australian former world number 17 Bernard Tomic slumped out of the first round of qualifying at Melbourne Park this week complaining of breathing difficulties in the bushfire smoke.
The last Australian to win the men’s singles title was Mark Edmondson in 1976.
also read
Indian Wells 2023: Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina march on, Andy Murray falls
Apart from Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, Stan Warinka also secured a victory, beating 19-year-old seventh seed Holger Rune.
Indian Wells 2023: Top seeds Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek start strong
Alcaraz, the US Open champion who can return to number one in the world with a third Masters 1000 crown, needed just one hour and 16 minutes to get past Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3, 6-3.
Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka not counting on Wimbledon amid ban reversal
Last year five tournaments staged by UK's Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), including Wimbledon, banned Russian and Belarusian players.