Roddick backs de Minaur's self-assessment
Former US Open champion Andy Roddick has expressed support for Alex de Minaur's emotional press conference after the Australian's Wimbledon exit, agreeing that the world number eight missed a golden opportunity. De Minaur, 27, broke down in tears following a straight-sets defeat to Flavio Cobolli, admitting he felt 'broken inside' and that his dream of winning a major title was 'fading away'.
De Minaur's heartbreak after straight-sets loss
De Minaur entered the match having dropped just one set en route to the last 16, but was outplayed by French Open finalist Cobolli. The Australian, who has never reached a Grand Slam semi-final despite reaching the quarter-finals of all four majors, said: 'I'm broken inside. That's the reality. You invest so many hours into this job and so many years to have moments like these. I won't be playing a tournament for a while. But then again, they keep piling up. The goals, the belief, the dreams you have start fading away or feeling a little bit further out of reach than they once were. I feel like a couple years ago I was definitely closer. Now I just feel like I'm drifting a little further away from those dreams. It's getting harder and harder. That's the reality.'
Roddick's analysis of de Minaur's game
Speaking on the Served podcast, Roddick said the result warranted such an emotional response. 'Yeah, it did,' Roddick said. 'He missed a couple of second serve returns when he had break points. He made the same mistakes over and over on his second serve. I would have bet my house on where he was going with his second serve. Let me just say it would be hard for me to respect Alex more than I do, this guy always shows up and has made one hell of a career. But it was the same second serve over and over and over. No one can question the hours he's putting in but I hope he's working on the right stuff. You could see his disappointment and I agree with him.'
Missed opportunity at Wimbledon
Roddick highlighted that de Minaur's side of the draw opened up after the early exits of top seeds Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic. 'This is probably his best surface. I respect someone who takes it this hard and who wants it this much. He's honest and self-aware and those are attributes I really, really respect. But I also think he's right, I think he's right. He was the higher seed and if he won that he would have faced a player who is not ranked inside the top-100 in the quarter-finals. There's no Alcaraz, Sinner or Djokovic in his side of the draw so opportunity was knocking and I'm sure that had an impact on his statements. I think he missed an opportunity, I do, and sometimes you need to call it as you see. You can think the world of someone while thinking their analysis of the situation is pretty accurate. He will get back on the horse, that's his nature because he's so professional.'
Cobolli advances to quarter-finals
De Minaur's opponent, world number 10 Cobolli, will face British wildcard Arthur Fery in the Wimbledon quarter-finals. The Italian's victory marked a significant milestone as he reached the last eight at the All England Club for the first time.
