Alex de Minaur felt like he’d been “slapped across the face” after his most promising Australian Open tilt yet ended in a demoralising quarter-final demolition at the hands of familiar foe Jannik Sinner.
After reaching the Melbourne Park final eight for the first time, de Minaur was attempting to reach his maiden semi-final at any slam on Wednesday.
The world No.8 was chasing his first win over world No.1 Sinner in 10 attempts, after winning just one set against the Italian in their previous nine meetings.
But defending Open champion Sinner outgunned, then dismantled the Australian to claim a straight-sets 6-3 6-2 6-1 win in just an hour and 48 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
“He’s probably my worst match-up, and you can see it in the head-to-head,” de Minaur said.
“Look, the negative is after playing some great tennis on home soil and gaining so much, you feel like you just have been slapped across the face, to be honest, to finish off like that.
“I guess the other positive is it’s not the first time that I’ve felt that. I felt the same thing when I played Novak (Djokovic) a couple of years ago. So, hey, I’ll survive. I’ll keep improving.”
De Minaur has now failed to claim a set in his four quarter-final appearances at slams to date and has a 0-10 record against Sinner.
Sinner will face world No.20 Ben Shelton in Friday’s semi-final, after the American beat Lorenzo Sonego in Wednesday’s other quarter-final.
World No.2 Alexander Zverev and 10-time champion Novak Djokovic face off in the other semi-final.
American Shelton has joined in on condemning the host broadcaster of the Australian Open during an extraordinary, unprompted address to end his winning press conference.
After surviving the grinding four-set battle against plucky Italian Sonego to book his first semi-final appearance at Melbourne Park, the 21st seed spoke out about “disrespectful” on-court interviews.
Shelton felt Channel Nine host Tony Jones’s now-infamous on-air sledge of Novak Djokovic was not just a “single event”.
“I’ve been a little bit shocked this week with how players have been treated by the broadcasters,” he said.
“I’ve noticed it with different people, not just myself.
“I noticed it with Learner Tien in one of his matches … when he beat (Daniil) Medvedev his post-match interview, I thought it was kind of embarrassing and disrespectful.”
After defeating Sonego, Shelton was asked about the prospect of facing world No.1 Sinner or Australian hero de Minaur in the semi-finals and the crowd almost certainly being against him.
“You guys can boo me, you can throw stuff in my head, I understand,” a grinning Shelton responded at the time.
But during the takedown, he admitted taking offence to the question.
“There are some comments that have been made to me in post-match interviews by a couple of different guys, whether it was, ‘Hey, (Gael) Monfils is old enough to be your dad. Maybe he is your dad’,” Shelton said.
“Or today on the court, ‘Hey, Ben, how does it feel that no matter who you play in your next match, no one is going to be cheering for you’?
“I mean, may be true, but I just don’t think the comment is respectful from a guy I’ve never met before in my life.
“I feel like broadcasters should be helping us grow our sport and help these athletes who just won matches on the biggest stage enjoy one of their biggest moments.
“I feel like there’s just been a lot of negativity.
“I think that’s something that needs to change.”
On the women’s side, second-seeded Iga Swiatek has continued her imperious march into the Australian Open semi-finals with a controversial 6-1 6-2 drubbing of American Emma Navarro.
The Polish superstar has now dropped just 14 games in her opening five matches at Melbourne – and a mere seven in the last four – en route to a semi-final showdown with another American, Madison Keys.
Earlier on Wednesday, Keys was made to work much harder in her quarter-final, coming back from a set down to oust Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 3-6 6-3 6-4 in a high-quality affair involving only one service break in each set.
But if Keys is to go any further in the tournament she will need to go to a whole new level against Swiatek.
The 23-year-old world No.2 already has five major titles to her name, although she has never gone further than the last four at Melbourne Park in six previous attempts.
There was a controversial moment in the fifth game of the second set when Swiatek chased down a drop shot on game point.
Navarro complained to the chair umpire that the ball had bounced twice before the Pole hit it – which a video replay showed to have happened – but as the American did not stop mid-point, her appeal fell on deaf ears.
Swiatek was unsure at the time if it was a double bounce or she had framed the ball.
Navarro placed no blame on Swiatek, but felt she should have been able to challenge the ruling after the point was over.
Swiatek went on to win the game and the next three to close out the victory in one hour and 29 minutes.
With AAP
