US OPEN

September 5, 2020

Alex De Minaur

Press Conference

A. de MINAUR/K. Khachanov

6-4, 0-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you explain the roller coaster of that match, what happened when you lost those eight games in a row.

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, first of all, I'd like to say, you know, kind of sorry to everyone out there watching. It's not the way I want to conduct myself on the tennis court, and it's not something that is normal for me, so I'm very disappointed in myself with the attitude I had.

I'm happy that I got through it, and I managed to kind of turn things around, but it's something that just can't happen and won't happen again.

Look, it was a tough one. Happy to be in the second week of a major again.

Q. To be in that position, to be in the second week of a major, just your thoughts on that. Because it had been, I guess, some of your results have been a bit patchy. It was unfortunate nobody has played for a while. You were getting back into a swing. How satisfying is it getting into the fourth round again?

ALEX de MINAUR: Look, I'm very happy. I feel like I have played against some quality opponents. I'm happy to get these wins. Definitely building some confidence, and hopefully I can keep this momentum going and just keep playing some good tennis.

Q. Vasek Pospisil in the next round. Your thoughts there?

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, obviously even though Vasek isn't a seed, he's definitely playing like a top seed. He's taken out both Milos and Bautista. He definitely deserves to be there. He's a very, very dangerous player.

It's going to be a tough one. We're in the fourth round of the US Open, so happy to be there and ready for the battle, that's for sure.

Q. Tell me, please, where it was where you behaved badly? Because if not, I have to go and look when was the point so you can tell me what happened. I mean, if you don't want to describe it, at least tell me when it happened. A comment on Sinner who beat you at the NextGen in Milan. And you had a great fight against Khachanov, and you beat Khachanov and you probably know what happened between Sinner and Khachanov. What do you expect from Sinner to do in the future, since you know him well?

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, the first question, let's just say I've got one less racquet. That's probably the way to put it.

The second question, look, as much as I love Jannik, and he's one of the greats and he's going to play some amazing tennis and he's an amazing talent, I probably would rather answer questions about myself. I'm happy to be in the second week of the slam again. But, yeah, he's obviously a great player but I'd rather not to have to answer questions about him.

Q. Then I'm going to ask you, how did you beat Khachanov since you were down two sets to one? Khachanov is a strong player, seeded No. 11. For you, how do you explain that you won quite easily the fifth set? Was he tired? Were you getting better and better? Someone who doesn't see the match, can you describe it?

ALEX de MINAUR: I think probably the biggest thing that I did differently was kind of just shut up and play. That was kind of my mentality. I was able to just be constant pressure throughout the whole match.

I felt like I didn't give him too many, you know, mistakes, and I just made sure that he had to work in every one of his service games.

So, look, I was happy that I was able to kind of get the early break and then kind of lead with it and ended up playing some great tennis.

I back my fitness in any match, so I knew kind of I wasn't going to have problems physically. So it was all about me mentally. I'm happy I won that battle today.

Q. I know you said you don't want to talk about someone else, but I was wondering if you watched Thommo yesterday. Obviously a great run for him. How cool is it to see someone you know as well as him doing so great at this US Open?

ALEX de MINAUR: It's amazing. I've known him for a very long time. We have hit together. He's like a big brother for me. And it's amazing to see us both, and him kind of leading the way, both of us in fourth round, and hopefully we can just keep it going.

He's playing some great tennis, and I'm really happy for him, that's for sure.

Q. Do you remember when you first met him when you were much younger?

ALEX de MINAUR: Probably would have been maybe about 12, 13, and I remember hitting with him a couple times. You know, he's always been over there in Sydney, and we had a lot to do together.

It was just kind of amazing to see him kind of grow up and get to the point where he has gone and me trying to follow in his footsteps.

We have had a lot of great memories in Davis Cup, as well, and that's definitely built our friendship, for sure.

Q. You have now played three matches without fans. Are you getting more accustomed to it? What's it like?

ALEX de MINAUR: It's a new experience. Obviously it's not ideal, but you can't do anything about it, so you might as well just go out there and deal with it, adapt with the situations, the conditions.

Look, it's going to be a tough thing to get used to, but just got to remember at least we're out here competing. So got to be happy being back out there on court and competing and playing the sport we love.

Q. Besides saying you have to win the last point, what do you have to do against Pospisil? And also just very quickly, the fact that it's you and Thommo in the fourth round, I think it's the first time two Australian men are in the fourth round since 2001, if you can comment on that, as well?

ALEX de MINAUR: Well, against Pospisil he's obviously a very aggressive player. He's gonna look to dictate a lot and try to take the net. I've just got to make sure I keep my depth, try not to get pushed around and a little bit like today and try to stand my ground and hopefully dictate myself.

Look, it's amazing, these stats. I'm so happy that I'm able to do it with a fellow Sydneysider as Thommo. Look, we're both out here getting some wins, and I couldn't be happier for us both. Hopefully we can just keep it going.