Latest news with #DeMinaur
Time of India
3 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
'It's all too much!': 'Tired' Alex De Minaur calls for shorter season
Australia's Alex De Minaur falls down as he plays Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik. (AP Photo) Home hope Fils charged up by crowd while a tired De Minaur calls for shorter season THE TIMES OF INDIA AT ROLAND GARROS: Arthur Fils gave everything he could lay his hands on to spectators at Court Suzanne Lenglen — t-shirts, sweat bands, towels and then some more. Just as well that he saved his rackets. The expressive 20-year-old showed gratitude to fans, who steered him out of a mid-match slump, courtesy a shaky lower back, to script a dramatic turnaround. At one point, from midway through the third set, Fils had lost 13 of 14 games to trail Spain's Jaume Munar 1-3 in the deciding fifth set. Fils, who had slowed down considerably, was suddenly in full flight. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! A couple of five-set matches, played on different courts at Roland Garros, became the talking point of the tournament. Alex De Minaur, the French Open 's ninth seed, and Fils, the 14th seed, finished at two ends of the spectrum in their second-round outings. Who's that IPL player? The 26-year-old Aussie and the effusive Frenchman both won the first two sets on Thursday, but lost the next two. Fils, battling a lower back injury, struggled with movement after two hours of play. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like A perfect start needs the perfect ride – Shine 125! Honda Learn More Undo The home crowd with calls of 'allez' and 'ole' shored up the 14th seed. The Frenchman, who was particularly aggressive in the fifth set, slamming 20 winners in the 56-minute deciding set, scored a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 2-6, 0-6, 6-4 win in four-hours and 30-minutes. On the other hand, De Minaur, on Court 14, went down 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 2-6 in just under three-hours. Fils plays Andrey Rublev in the third round. De Minaur, who hadn't dropped a set to Bublik in their previous three meetings, didn't mince words, pinning his loss squarely on mental fatigue. 'I'm tired mentally, a little bit burnt out, if anything. A lot of tennis is being played,' De Minaur said. Bombay Sport Exchange Ep 5: Shane Watson on how IPL gave him a lifeline & his tribute to Phil Hughes After limping out of Roland Garros on Wednesday, Casper Ruud, the two-time French Open finalist, called the rankings a 'rat race'. 'You feel obligated to play, you feel like you lose a lot if you don't show up and play,' Ruud said, after his 2nd-round exit. De Minaur joined the chorus in calling for a shorter schedule. 'What's going to happen is players' careers are going to get shorter and shorter because they'll burn out mentally,' he said. 'There's just too much tennis.'
New Straits Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Bublik plays 'match of his life' to upset De Minaur in Paris
PARIS: Alexander Bublik hailed one of the best matches of his life as the Kazakh rallied from two sets down to dispatch ninth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur at the French Open on Thursday. The 27-year-old Monaco-based player said he was already thinking about the journey home before De Minaur threw him a lifeline to turn their second-round match in his favour, 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. "I was checking the tickets already in my head," said Bublik, who had 12 double faults and 12 aces in the match of two halves. "I was a bit sleepy in the first two sets. It was a key to wake up and then to play one of the best Slam matches that I ever played in my life. "I'm not going to tank at a Slam. So he gave me a chance and I used it. Then it was a bit of a momentum shift." De Minaur, a quarter-finalist in Paris last year, hit 46 winners to 51 for Bublik. "Every chance that I had since the third set, I used it," said Bublik who had 48 unforced errors to De Minaur's 34. "He was playing unbelievable. "Then at a certain moment, he made a few mistakes, he gave me the break. Then he gave me another break. I start fighting. "So yeah, it's one of the most important wins." For De Minaur, 26, it was "one of those matches that kind of just slipped away without a whole lot of meaning." "Look, I'm just tired. I'm tired mentally. I'm a little bit burnt out, if anything. A lot of tennis being played," he said. "In a way, the good thing is that what's happened today is something like a miracle, right, in the sense that I'm not known for these types of performances or losing a match like this from two sets to love up." Bublik next meets Portugal's Henrique Rocha who also came from two sets down against Czech teenager Jakub Mensik to win 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. Rocha joins fellow countryman Nuno Borges in the third round, the first time two Portuguese men have advanced to the last 32 at a major.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Alex de Minaur airs complaint amid brutal development for Aussie and fiancee
Alex de Minaur has added his voice to calls for the tennis tours to reduce the amount of tournaments and matches being played throughout the year, after he and fiancee Katie Boulter were both knocked out of the French Open on Thursday night. De Minaur and Boulter were spotted in a sweet moment behind the scenes after his brutal five-set loss to Alexander Bublik in the second round at Roland Garros. But the Aussie's fiancee didn't fare any better, thrashed 6-1 6-3 by Australian Open champ Madison Keys a short time later. It continued a trend in which both of them have never managed to go deep in tournaments they're playing at the same time. World No.9 de Minaur suffered an extraordinary loss from two-sets up, going down 6-2 6-2 4-6 3-6 2-6 to his much lower-ranked opponent (62). He used his post-match press conference to slam the sport's governing bodies for the sheer volume of tennis the players have to play throughout the year to maintain their rankings points. The 26-year-old said he's mentally and physically exhausted after a gruelling start to the year, bemoaning the "never-ending" season. "The solution is simple: you shorten the schedule, right?" he said. "What's not normal is that for the last three, four years I've had two days off after the Davis Cup and I've gone straight into pre-season, straight into the new season again. Once you start, you don't finish until November 24. So it's never-ending. The way it's structured ... I had to deal with that. I'm still dealing with that right now. "The solution is you shorten, because what's going to happen is players' careers are going to get shorter and shorter because they're just going to burn out mentally. There's just too much tennis." De Minaur's season kicked off with the United Cup in December, which came just 33 days after the Davis Cup Finals marked the end of 2024. He echoed the complaints made by compatriot Jordan Thompson earlier in the week, who described the ATP schedule as "shit" and "just a joke". RELATED: Tennis world saddened after brutal development for Kyrgios and Osaka Rafa Nadal's stunning admission as tennis world erupts at French Open World No.7 Casper Ruud aired his own complaints after the two-time French Open finalist suffered an injury-hampered loss to Nuno Borges in the second round. Ruud likened the ATP's ranking system to a "rat race" in which players fee compelled to compete in mandatory events - even if they are carrying injuries - because they'll lose points if they don't. "You feel you're obligated to play with certain rules that the ATP have set up with the mandatory events," he said. "You feel like you lose a lot if you don't show up and play ... the punishments are quite hard, in terms of everyone else will play, gain points, and you won't. "If you don't play a mandatory event, they cut 25 per cent of your year-end bonus. You're forcing players to show up injured or sick, or whatever, when that's not what I think is very fair." De Minaur was spotted being consoled by Boulter while cooling down in the gym after his loss. The British player joined her fiancee with a second-round exit after being thrashed by Keys on centre court. Katie Boulter and Alex de Minaur at Roland Garros ❤️ — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 29, 2025 Elsewhere, Jannik Sinner ended the retiring Richard Gasquet's career with a one-sided victory, while Novak Djokovic continued his bid for a record-breaking 25th grand slam title by downing Frenchman Corentin Moutet in straight sets. On the women's side, second seed and former finalist Coco Gauff beat 2024 French Open girls' champion Tereza Valentova, after 18-year-old contender Mirra Andreeva also cruised through.
The South African
3 days ago
- Sport
- The South African
Alex de Minaur blames 'too much tennis' for early French Open exit
Australia's Alex de Minaur, known as 'The Demon', was beaten by Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in their second round clash on Court 14 at Roland Garros on Thursday. It's very rare for De Minaur to lose a match after being two sets up. After the match De Minaur was very raw when describing how the match was for him. 'It was obviously not a good day at the office.' When asked about how he was feeling physically, De Minaur was brutally honest with where he is currently at. 'Look, I'm just tired. I'm tired mentally. I'm a little bit burnt out, if anything. A lot of tennis being played. 'In a way, the good thing is that what's happened today is something like a miracle, right, in the sense that I'm not known for these types of performances or losing a match like this from two sets to love up. 'I'm probably known for the opposite, which is just being consistent and not losing really matches that I shouldn't be losing.' It was a match that Alex de Minaur felt he lost rather than Bublik winning it. 'I think I lost that one. I mean, yeah, probably looking back at my Grand Slam career, I can't think of another match where, yeah, I felt this way and I ended up losing a match that I probably by all means shouldn't have. 'Look, not to give credit away from Bublik, he's extremely dangerous, but saying that, I was also two sets to love up. 'This is a match that, yeah, I win 99.9% of the times. Today was just the odd occasion that it slipped away.' De Minaur admitted that when he is not at his best physically, things start to bother him when they normally would not be an issue. 'I think the biggest tell sign when I'm not feeling good or, like, I'm tired is me getting edgy on the court. 'Normally I win this match, as I said, nine times out of 10 based on my attitude. I don't let anything that he throws my way affect me. 'Today I was getting frustrated with myself, which ended up lowering my level. 'Then I got into an even bigger hole. I forgot how to serve there. 'It all became a little bit too much to the point where it was one of the few times in my career where I felt like, yeah, I don't see the solution today. 'I don't think today is going to be that day where I turn things around just because I couldn't mentally get myself up for it.' Dave Marshall is covering the 2025 French Open in Paris exclusively for The South African website Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
De Minaur blames 'too much tennis' after French Open letdown
Alex de Minaur took aim at the "never-ending" tennis schedule on Thursday after blowing a two-set lead in his second-round loss to Alexander Bublik at the French Open. The Australian ninth seed had reached the quarter-finals at each of the past four Grand Slams but he ran out of steam against Bublik, who rallied to win 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. "Obviously not a good day at the office," lamented De Minaur. "One of those matches that kind of just slipped away without a whole lot of meaning." De Minaur fell victim to the mercurial Kazakh's exceptional shotmaking as his clay-court season ended in disappointment and with the 26-year-old needing to recharge. "Look, I'm just tired. I'm tired mentally. I'm a little bit burnt out, if anything. A lot of tennis being played," he said. "I think I lost that one. Looking back at my Grand Slam career, I can't think of another match where I felt this way and I ended up losing a match that I probably by all means shouldn't have. "Look, not to take credit away from Bublik, he's extremely dangerous, but saying that, I was also two sets to love up. This is a match that, yeah, I win 99.9% of the time." De Minaur echoed the view of Casper Ruud, the two-time French Open runner-up who blasted the ATP's ranking system after he lost in the second round on Wednesday. World number eight Ruud compared it to "a rat race" which forces players to compete with injuries, as he was hindered by a knee issue in his to loss Nuno Borges. De Minaur missed three Masters 1000 events in the second half of last year due to injury and took just two days off after the Davis Cup in November before starting preparations for the new season. "It's just never ending," he said of the schedule. "No one's got a solution. But the solution is simple: you shorten the schedule, right? "Because what's going to happen is players' careers are going to get shorter and shorter because they're just going to burn out mentally. There's just too much tennis." mw/ea
