Alex de Minaur has admitted that he is haunted by memories of his 2022 Wimbledon nightmare, when he lost the third set to Arthur Fils and faced a first quarter-final at the hallowed venue.
Two years ago, the Australian No. 1 was knocked out in the same fourth round when he was two sets to zero down against unseeded Cristian Garin, then failed to save two match points before losing in the fifth-set tiebreak.
Having exited early last year, he had yet to reach the last eight of this tournament, and when Fils recovered from a 2-0 deficit to halve the deficit on Court 1 on Monday (Tuesday, AEST), the bad memories flooded back.
However, the 25-year-old had the maturity to keep them at bay and defeated Fils 6:2, 6:4, 4:6 and 6:3.
“I was in a similar situation a few years ago when I was two sets to zero ahead,” he said.
“I had a lot going through my head. I’m glad I was able to finish it in the end. It definitely wasn’t easy. It definitely wasn’t straightforward.
“But hey, I’m sitting here in the quarterfinals. So happy days.”
The fact that the crowd that normally supports the Sydneysider wanted to get their money’s worth and therefore supported his opponent did not help.
“At the end of the day, the crowd wants a spectacle, right?” he argued. “They want the game to last as long as possible. You can understand that they are getting involved and wanting Arthur to make a comeback, so to speak.”
But de Minaur blocked out the noise in his head and ears and used his experience to secure a place in the last eight.
“I have experienced many of the difficult moments I have had in my career in such a way that there is only one way to look at them: learn from them.
“It’s about the small victories. My whole career has been about getting better every day and learning from tough experiences. I think that’s the key to becoming a better tennis player.”
In the short term, he wants and needs to see an improvement in his serve after Fils managed to break his opponent in four of his last six service games.
“I didn’t do myself any favors. I didn’t serve well in the moments when I should have served. My first serve didn’t land. That got me in trouble more often than usual.”
“The way I look at it is: I win tennis matches, right? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it’s perfect, if it’s beautiful, if it’s ugly or whatever, right? If I win the last point and shake my opponent’s hand and have a big smile on my face, that means I’ve done my job.
“The further you progress in a tournament, the better you obviously want to play and improve your performance. That’s one of the areas where I can definitely improve.”