Alex de Minaur has been forced to withdraw from the Adelaide International with an injury, casting doubt on his participation for the upcoming Australian Open. The top seed at a tournament for the first time, the 20-year old had received a first round bye and was scheduled to face Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round before announcing his decision.
De Minaur announces withdrawal, talks about ATP Cup experience
Addressing the media, de Minaur announced "obviously I've re-aggravated a past injury. I've had to withdraw from Adelaide tournament. It's devastating because it was part of my schedule for a very long time. While he said "I was really looking forward to playing", the Aussie knows "i've got to take care of my body" with the year's first major less than a week away.
De Minaur took part in the inaugural ATP Cup last week and, alongside Nick Kyrgios, helped lead Australia to the semifinals where they lost to eventual champion Serbia. "I feel like I had a great week", he said. "I played some great tennis. Lots to learn from. There's a level I know I can bring. It's a level I need to bring out every time I step out on court. Very, very excited for what's to come."
As for the prognosis of his injury going forward, the three-time ATP Tour titlist stated "at the moment we're going to take it day by day. It's something that is obviously not ideal. At this stage, we're just looking at sort of short term goals and trying to get better each day. A lot of treatment. I've seen the physios. I've seen the doctors. I'll be continuing to do that for the whole of next week. Hopefully I'll be ready to play in Melbourne."
When asked where his game has improved the most, de Minaur said "well, i've used a lot of stuff that people have told me that I wasn't able to do. I've used that sort of as drive and motivation to improve in those areas. I think I sort of showed that i've got another part of my game that I can go to. Just overall mentally, physically, I think it's just a constant work in progress. Hopefully, I'll keep on breaking barriers."