Demon fluffs match point in agonising loss as form struggles continue
Alex de Minaur’s poor run of form has continued at the Canadian Open, spectacularly fluffing a match point before eventually losing to Brit Cameron Norrie in three sets.
De Minaur fought from 0-5 and a double-break down in the first set to rattle off seven-straight games to clinch it. In the second, he had match point serving at 5-2, 40-30 but faltered.
Alex de Minaur blew match point to lose to Cameron Norrie in three sets. Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP
He had another chance to serve for the match at 5-4, but flubbed it again. He saved three break points, but again double-faulted on a fourth to gift Norrie the game. That was the gift the Brit needed and he went on to win the set in a tiebreak to square the match.
From there it was one way traffic.
De Minaur never got going in the third set, eventually going down 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-1 in nearly three hours.
It’s only the second time in the past 18 months de Minaur had lost a match on a hard court after winning the first set.
For Norrie, the win is being hailed as one of the comebacks of the year.
“The level was so high the first two sets,” Norrie said post-match.
“From the beginning, (de Minaur) came out firing and I was like, ‘Woah, this is a crazy level’, and I had to match it. I managed to go up a break (in the first set), but he stayed really tough and I know he’s so tough as a competitor and stole that first set.
“He was looking good in the second set and I think he took the foot off the gas very slightly and I managed to free up, steal the tie-break and then it was just a battle.
“I was just trying to play point for point. No time to think. I just stayed point for point and I managed to win 6-1. It was a great match to win and to test my level and I can take so much confidence from this one.”
De Minaur had been the top remaining seed in Montreal, after Alexander Zverev lost in the first round, and Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic all elected not to play.
The loss continues a trend of early exits from big tournaments, despite recently having broken into the top-five in the world rankings.
Norrie and de Minaur shake hands at the net. Getty Images
Last week in Washington, de Minaur beat Stefanos Tsitsipas and then made light work of Cruz Hewitt, before coming unstuck against little-known American Brandon Nakashima. At Wimbledon, he failed to take a big opportunity for an all-time grand slam result after getting into the second week with a relatively open draw, then losing his fourth round match in straight sets to Italian Flavio Cobolli.
Main draw action at the US Open, the final grand slam of the year, begins on August 31 (AEST).
