Alex de Minaur came into the ATP Finals full of confidence, declaring he wasn’t there to “make up the numbers”.
But his comments blew up spectacularly as he failed again against Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday night (AEDT).
After losing all three matches at the finals last year, de Minaur was determined to make a statement in 2025.
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But after leading 5-3 in the first set tie-break against the Spaniard, he fell in a heap to lose the first set and then the match 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in Turin.
“It was a very difficult match. Alex on this surface is really good – he makes the most of the speed of the court as he’s super fast,” Alcaraz said after his first round victory.
“So I’m really happy to get through this really difficult challenge and happy with the way I played.”
De Minaur played well as a whole, making 11 fewer errors than Alcaraz’s 28, and plenty of times had Alcaraz on the ropes.
But the Aussie ultimately didn’t have the weapons to get him over the line.
It was a familiar feeling for the 26-year-old who continues to fall short time and time again against the world’s best tennis players.
De Minaur’s latest loss to Alcaraz extended his record to 0-5 against the Spaniard.
But it isn’t just against Alcaraz where he struggles, with his record against the entire men’s top 10 alarming.
Since defeating Daniil Medvedev at the 2024 French Open, the Aussie has dropped 15 straight ATP matches to top-10 opponents.
During the drought, de Minaur has lost three times to Alcaraz, five times to Jannik Sinner and twice to Taylor Fritz.
He has also lost to Andrey Rublev, Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev once each during the same period.
He has also never beaten Sinner or Alcaraz in any tournament.
And his latest loss puts him on the back foot in his quest to make the ATP semi-finals.
De Minaur must now beat Lorenzo Musetti and Taylor Fritz if he has any chance of securing a top-two spot in the Jimmy Connors Group and making the last four.
But to do so, he must break his top-10 hoodoo not once but twice.
