Alex de Minaur has been through a rollercoaster of emotions over the past few days. The Australian had a great chance to win against Lorenzo Musetti, but losing the last four games, Alex de Minaur was defeated 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.
Although few expected the 26-year-old to secure a place in the next roundof the ATP Finals, the Australian surprised everyone by defeating Taylor Fritz in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3.
After the defeat to Musetti, de Minaur seemed really deeply frustrated and disappointed, saying that he would not express his feelings because they were quite dark. The popular tennis player intensified the atmosphere by emphasizing that he was not sure how many times he could take a defeat like this.
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After the match with the American tennis player, we saw completely different emotions compared to his match against Musetti. De Minaur came to the press conference smiling, saying that he managed to get out of a dark period, and the biggest credit for that goes to his fiance, Katie Boulter.
Having such support is certainly a great thing, but most importantly, de Minaur did not think too much about the previous match, but focused solely on giving his maximum from the first to the last point.
Tennis is a mental game, not just a physical one
Ultimately, the 26-year-old realized that the best thing he could do for himself during the match was to focus solely on the points, without thinking too much about his emotions or his strong desire to win. Many tennis players experience even greater failure because of such a strong desire, and this speaks volumes for how much tennis is not only a physical, but also a mental game.
