Wednesday was a frustrating day at the US Open for Alex de Minaur, who exited the tournament at the quarterfinal stage after four dramatic sets against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The Australian star extended the match for four hours, 10 minutes, including an 87-minute second set - the longest of the men's tournament in 2025 - and never stopped fighting at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
But ultimately, the former world No.6 had too many weapons and was steadier in the biggest moments to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal in four years.
"Right now, I'm looking at this like a wasted opportunity. It's tough," De Minaur admitted. "There's no other way I'm probably gonna deal with this, but just seeing it straight, and that's what today was. Today was an opportunity to break new ground. I was nowhere near the level I needed to be at.
"That's frustrating, because you don't get these chances often."
This was De Minaur's sixth Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance, but just his fifth match, given his withdrawal from his Wimbledon 2024 encounter against Novak Djokovic due to a hip injury.
Auger-Aliassime, at world No.27, represented the lowest-ranked of any of his previous quarterfinal opponents for De Minaur, who won his first set in a major quarterfinal when he took the opener against the Cann.
He then held a set point in the second-set tiebreak and led the fourth set 5-2 - serving for it in the following game - only for Auger-Aliassime to peg him back each time.
"It is very tough when you have worked so hard for something and you constantly are putting yourself in positions to, in a way, prove people wrong," De Minaur said. "But yet again, you kind of fall, and especially this time, it's a tough one to take. I mean, there is no beating around the bush. It's one of those matches that I would love to play again.
"There are other times that the opponent has a lot to say. I have played quarterfinals where I played Jannik [at Australian Open 2025], and he was just too good, right, and there's not really much I could have done. But I feel like this one was on my racquet, and it is a shame.
"I don't know how I'll handle it. I'm definitely, as of right now, seeing red, but yeah, I'll get over it. It's just tennis, right?"
While the world No.8 will take time to process the defeat and work his way through the emotions accompanying it, one thing he will look to address immediately is his serve.
De Minaur landed only 42 per cent of first serves for the match - a percentage that dropped as low as 34 in the first set, and 35 in the third - and his eight aces were offset by 11 double faults.
Auger-Aliassime also committed 11 double faults, but slammed 22 aces among 51 total winners, and was able to find his serve and venomous forehand when he needed it most.
"My serve's been letting me down in big matches," admitted De Minaur, who said he frequently found himself on the back foot in points because Auger-Aliassime got so many looks at his second serves.
"I put myself in and gave myself every chance to extend this match again and be in the fifth set like I did against Novak at Wimbledon [this year in the fourth round]. But I mean, it's pretty tough to win a high-quality match serving the way I did today.
"It's something that needs to improve, because if not, I'm going to put myself into a lot of trouble frequently against the top players in the later stages of these tournaments."
Impressively, De Minaur has now reached the quarterfinals in New York three times, and came closer than ever to his first major semifinal - a stage no Australian man has reached at the US Open since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005.
READ: De Minaur eyes US Open full-circle moment
Although he was struggling to see any positives, the 26-year-old defended his points from last year, remains at No.8 in the live rankings and rises to 7th place in the ATP Finals points race.
"If I'm looking back at this whole US Open campaign, I've got to be honest with myself. I haven't felt at my best in terms of how I have been playing on the court," he said. "I feel like I have done exactly what I needed to do to get the job done, but I haven't really felt comfortable on the court. Today was another match of exactly that.
"Then obviously you add the situation, you add moments in the match, and then you've got a little bit of tension, and all of that just drops the level down significantly.
"There were some good moments, but they didn't last long. It's a shame, because ... I get that fourth set, and I'm in a good position, because physically I'm feeling great, I'm ready to go, and I'm kind of hoping that momentum is going to go my way.
"But, yeah, it's another kind of opportunity that just slips away."
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