THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 10, 2024

Alex De Minaur

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Alex is going to make a statement, and then we'll take a few questions.

ALEX DE MINAUR: Obviously not an announcement I wanted to make by any means. Yeah, I'm devastated, but I had to pull out due to a hip injury, a little tear of the fiber cartilage that kind of is at the end or connects to the adductor.

I felt a loud crack during the last three points of my match against Fils and got a scan yesterday, and it confirms that this was the injury and with, yeah, high risk of making it worse if I was to step on court, so yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What does it mean? This is a big moment in your career. You also have another big moment. What are your thoughts about that in terms of the Olympics, et cetera?

ALEX DE MINAUR: If I'm completely honest, I don't know. They haven't been able to tell me a definite recovery plan because it's such a unique injury. It's based on pain a little.

Right now it can be anywhere from three to six weeks. It just depends on how quickly my body heals.

Q. I think I know the answer to the question given that you said this is based on pain. Is there any chance that you could have kind of done things that athletes do these days, taken painkillers and willed a way on through or attempted it because we all know how desperately you probably wanted to play this match? Was this just an absolute no-brainer?

ALEX DE MINAUR: Well, it's no secret that at this stage in my career this was the biggest match of my career. I wanted to do anything I could to play. I got the results yesterday. I knew what the results were yesterday. I still wanted to wake up today hoping that I would feel some sort of miracle and not feel it whilst I'm walking.

The problem with me going out and playing is that one stretch, one slide, one anything could make this injury go from three to six weeks to four months. It was too much to risk.

Q. How would you describe what you've gone through physically and emotionally in the last two days?

ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, it's devastating. No way to beat around the bush. I've gone from achieving -- well, I haven't really been able to enjoy what I've achieved this week because I knew. I knew as soon as I felt that pop, I knew something bad had happened.

So it's been two days of just worrying and just waiting to see what the results showed. In the grand scheme of things it could have been worse, so I'm trying to hold on to that.

Q. Obviously watched you practice this morning. You mentioned you wanted to see if there was a miracle there. Did that confirm it for you when you stepped on the court, or did you know even before you went on court?

ALEX DE MINAUR: I mean, I have been struggling to sleep the last couple of days. I feel it walking. Just hoping that I would wake up and feel it a little bit less or feel it to a point where I can at least go on court.

But, again, I think it's almost disrespectful for me to not go on the court close to 100% against someone like Novak because there's no point of me going out there if I'm not going out there to try and win.

Q. Have you had an injury like this before? Do you know what you are dealing with?

ALEX DE MINAUR: No, this is a completely unique, new injury that they've got very little research on. It's four years worth of research. Therefore, that's why they couldn't give me an approximate on recovery time. It's more just a little bit of hope, wait and see.

So, yeah, it's quite a unique injury. I'm hoping the pain goes down with a bit of rest, and then ultimately it's kind of working against the clock to get back as soon as possible.

Q. Alex, can you pinpoint exactly where it is on your hip that you feel the pain?

ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, it's quite high up. It's almost where the adductor and the ab kind of insertion there. That's where I feel it.

Yeah, it kind of happened when I slid out to a forehand. Created a lot of force and heard that crack, which yeah, knew it was never going to be something good.

Q. Have you had a chance to speak to Novak or his camp before the announcement?

ALEX DE MINAUR: My plan always from the start was if -- I didn't feel great yesterday, so I knew I needed a miracle this morning. That's why I wanted to make sure when I did warm up and I gave myself a chance, I warmed up as early as possible so I knew as early as possible what my decision was going to be.

I didn't see Novak at the courts yet. I saw his manager. I just let him know. Yeah, haven't seen Novak yet.

Q. Basically you haven't had much time to process what's gone on in the tournament so far as far as positives. I'll just ask you, what would you say have been the positives in the week in terms of your level?

ALEX DE MINAUR: Probably the positives is I'm playing these tournaments, and I'm in the deep end of them. It's probably why it hurts so much more knowing that I feel close, closer than probably ever before.

I feel like I'm putting myself in these positions, and it's a shame that I can't go out there and play. So the positives is I made back-to-back quarterfinals in slams, and I'm getting to the deep end of these tournaments more frequently. Yeah, it's where I want to be.

Q. Is there anything to say about the quality of the courts with that slip? I think you answered this a bit yesterday, but just to continue on that. Also, do you have a message for your British fans who have really been taken with your success, taken you under their wing as an honorary Britt?

ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, I think this injury is more of a freak injury. It's an excessive amount of force made to slide on a grass court. I only did this because at the time it was match point, right, and so I just went for it for a slide that was probably a little bit more than normal.

It's something that, you know, there were no signs of any fatigue, any problems beforehand. It just, yeah, happened on a freak movement.

To the British fans that have supported me, well, obviously extremely disappointed that I couldn't go out there and keep on competing, but yeah, I felt the love. I felt great playing in front of them. This has always been a very special place for me, and I'm hoping in the years to come I've got more and more to show at this tournament.

You never know. Hopefully you go quite big one year.

Q. You talked about the three- to six-week timeline, how quickly your body recovers. Can you give us an idea of what you actually have to do to try to rehab the injury and try to get back faster? What will the process be from here on out?

ALEX DE MINAUR: Well, the body needs to naturally heal, so the tear needs to naturally heal. There's that process, and then there's the process of rehabbing the area around it and kind of helping it be safe.

It's an injury that is all based on pain, on my pain. So I've got to do exercises that don't irritate the area more and it allows it to heal. That's why it's kind of all up to myself and my body, how quickly it heals.

In the past similar injuries that maybe I've had with osteitis pubis, I've come back sooner than expected. So I'm hoping that's the case for this one as well.

Q. Have you spoken to Nick Kyrgios about his comeback? It sounds like he's getting closer and what he is saying about it and what your hopes are for his return to the tour?

ALEX DE MINAUR: Yeah, I've seen him hitting. I think it looks like he's feeling a little better. As far as I know, I think the U.S. hard court is when he's planning to return. I don't know the exact specifics, but it will all be depending on his injury and how he's feeling.