Down and out in Paris, crestfallen Alex de Minaur has complained of feeling burnt out and mentally weary following a "miracle" French Open capitulation, sighing it's time for him to change.
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The never-say-die 'Demon' has never seemed so downcast as he tried to make sense of how he lost his second-round contest 2-6 2-6 6-4 6-3 6-2 to comeback wizard Alexander Bublik from a position on Thursday where "99.9 per cent of the time" he would have won.
"There's no excuse for myself, what happened today. I need to look at myself in the mirror and find out the reason, because ultimately this isn't going to change. I have to adapt and make sure it doesn't happen again," lamented the world No.9.
The first time he's been knocked out this early in his last seven grand slams meant Alexei Popyrin is the only Aussie left in the men's draw after Brisbane's Adam Walton bowed out to No.17 seed Andrey Rublev 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 7-6 (7-5) later on Thursday.
With a doughty late-night 6-4 6-2 win over French wildcard Leolia Jeanjean, 17th seed Daria Kasatkina, in her first grand slam representing Australia, also set up a third-round blockbuster date with Spanish No.10 seed Paula Badosa.
De Minaur's defeat came in a wildly entertaining affair, the ultimate 'match of two halves'.
The famously eccentric Kazhak Bublik admitted the 11am start had been too early for a sleepyhead like him and was already thinking about getting an early flight home to Monaco until deciding to throw caution to the wind after being outplayed for two sets.
But though Bublik stirred to provide some out-of-the-box brilliance, de Minaur could only feel this was one that criminally got away - and he couldn't understand how.
"No illness, no injury. Look, I'm just tired. I'm tired mentally. I'm a little bit burnt out, if anything," sighed de Minaur.
Suggesting he'd lost the match rather than Bublik winning, he added: "I lost that one. Looking back at my grand slam career, I can't think of another match where I felt this way and ended up losing a match that I win 99.9 per cent of the time.
"In a way, the good thing is that today is something like a miracle, in the sense that I'm not known for these types of performances. 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 crushing blow for the 26-year-old Sydneysider, who'd been enjoying his best clay-court season and was ready to build on his breakthrough quarter-final appearance last year.
"Obviously have to have a hard chat with the team and analyse everything that's been happening, kind of find a reason of why this happened."
He also complained about there being "too much tennis" and the ATP needing a shorter schedule, echoing fellow Aussie Jordan Thompson's complaints earlier in the week. Mainly though, he just sounded like a man in need of a break after 38 matches already this year.
Ironically, his misery all unfolded just as the sun came out for the first time these championships - conditions 'Demon' loves - and for two sets he positively shone.
Looking to have cracked the puzzle that is Bublik, making light of his crazy drop shots, suicidal monster second serves and one dismally executed underarm delivery, he waltzed two sets up in an hour.
There was the odd dazzling shot - one which sent de Minaur sliding into the courtside furniture - but it felt like Einstein's definition of insanity as he played drop shot after drop shot only to get the same result as the fastest man in tennis hunted them down.
Then, a switch was flicked at two-sets down. Out went the drop shots, in came the power. "I was checking the tickets already in my head. I didn't really care, in a way," shrugged Bublik.
De Minaur's composure evaporated as Bublik got the crowd behind him with musketeer shotmaking, like the point that won him the fourth, featuring a tweener followed by a brilliant backhand bullet down the line. No wonder the Kazakh took a deep bow.
Bublik raced through the final set, taking his ace count to a dozen and, for his piece de resistance, finished the job, after de Minaur had saved three match points in the final game, with one rapier-like cross-court backhand winner, his 51st of a marvellously entertaining encounter.
Australian Associated Press
