Ash Barty has led the tennis greats’ lamentations over the hapless Alex de Minaur but is confident the popular Australian star will recover from the devastating injury blow that ended his Wimbledon dream.
“I feel sorry for Alex,” admitted former Wimbledon champion Barty after de Minaur withdrew from his quarterfinal match against Novak Djokovic on Centre Court on Wednesday due to a hip injury.
After her victorious return to Centre Court in an invitational doubles match, the 2021 winner added: “I mean, you could see how much this meant to him. As he said, this was the biggest match of his life. This was the chance he had worked so hard for. For something so terrible to happen…
“But he’s a resilient athlete. He’s a badass guy. I know it’s going to be a challenge, but there’s definitely going to be a silver lining along the way that will help him grow.
“He’s too smart and ambitious and passionate and motivated not to learn and grow from it.
“But it hurts. There’s no way you can hide behind the fact that it’s terrible. You have to be able to accept it.
“It’s okay if it’s quiet for a while, but I’m sure he can come back. When he’s fit and healthy again on the pitch, he’ll get back to doing what he does best.”
De Minaur has what he described as a “unique” hip injury that could keep him out of action for three to six weeks, but it could have kept him out for even longer, perhaps as many as four months, had he attempted to play against seven-time champion Djokovic.
Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash told the BBC: “It’s disappointing, hugely disappointing for Alex, who has put himself in a position where he feels he can compete at the end of the Grand Slam tournaments and has a chance of getting to the finals and semi-finals.”
“He’s playing Djokovic, but there’s also a question mark over Novak’s fitness, so you could say this is potentially Alex’s best chance to advance.
“You can see that he was very devastated – but he made the right decision. It was bad luck for him, bad luck for Centre Court and the crowd. But really good news for Novak Djokovic.”
His compatriot Max Purcell from Sydney, who had just reached the semi-finals of the men’s doubles with Jordan Thompson, said the 25-year-old should not be too discouraged because he would get back on his feet.
“After our doubles match I saw him walking down the stairs, a little bit nervous and of course a little bit angry,” said former Wimbledon doubles champion Purcell.
“He always wanted to do well here. He beat Novak at the beginning of the year and was determined to beat him again.
“He’s been one of the guys to beat lately, especially on grass. I think he knew that if he beat Djokovic, he had a good chance of sneaking into the final there too.”
“But the guy can still reach 10 more quarterfinals, so he shouldn’t be too disappointed. He’s been such a good player for so long that I feel like he’s confident he’ll stay at the top.”