Alex De Minaur again troubled by injured hip as maiden ATP Finals campaign ends in defeat to Taylor Fritz
Alex de Minaur struggled with a hip complaint in his ATP Finals loss to Taylor Fritz.
In short:
Alex de Minaur's ATP Finals campaign ended in a three-set defeat to American Taylor Fritz
De Minaur was visibly hampered by the hip injury which has troubled him throughout this season
What's next?
De Minaur is set to play for Australia in the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga next week
Alex de Minaur has bowed out of his maiden ATP Finals in Turin with a third loss and nothing to show for his typically valiant efforts, except a seemingly painful reminder of his troublesome hip injury.
De Minaur, needing a win to keep alive his already wafer-thin hopes of making the semifinals of the season-ending men's championship, ended up wincing in obvious discomfort near the end of his 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 defeat by Taylor Fritz at the Inalpi Arena.
Any recurrence of the left-hip problem that first derailed him at Wimbledon in July is of concern with the looming prospect of de Minaur being drafted in to Lleyton Hewitt's Australia team at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga next week.
His defeat followed losses to Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev on his maiden appearance at the Finals earlier this week, but as ever "Demon" didn't succumb without a real battle on Thursday, local time, despite an apparent flare-up of the injury that's dogged his second half of a terrific breakthrough season.
Still fighting furiously at the end of the second set, there was even a chance de Minaur could win in straight sets after a terrific attacking performance and still have a long-odds shot at making the semi-finals.
But having dropped just point on serve in the rest of the second stanza, one absent-minded game when serving to stay in the set was then enough to allow Fritz to level at one-set apiece and ensure de Minaur was eliminated.
The knowledge of his exit may have knocked the wind out of de Minaur's sails as he was broken in the decider to go 3-1 down and then grimaced in clear pain after stretching to his right and trying to shift back to his left a couple of games later.
Still, though, the indefatigable 25-year-old managed to conjure up the point of the match, with an incredible bit of retrieving and a running forehand lob that left Fritz almost incredulous.
The best of de Minaur's 27 winners still wasn't enough to stop the US Open finalist Fritz running out the winner in two hours six minutes, a win that guaranteed world No.1 Sinner was the first player to advance to the weekend's semi-finals.
Medvedev has to beat Sinner later on Thursday in straight sets to advance in the tournament. If the Italian wins or takes just a set off the Russian, Fritz will qualify.
The ABC of SPORT
Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday.Your information is being handled in accordance with the ABC Privacy Collection Statement.AAP
By：ABC(责任编辑：admin)
下一篇：How Donald Trump loyalists and MAGA hustlers descended on Mar-a-Lago to fight for a role in his White House
Socceroos rescue a point 
Wallabies thrash Wales 52
Jake Paul beats Mike Tyso
Live updates: England vs 
US election 2024: Donald 
US election live: Kamala
- ·North Korea's latest weapon agains
- ·Hezbollah says Israel 'cannot impo
- ·Inside the rise of US oligarchs and how
- ·Thailand's worst suspected serial
- ·Tabi shoes are turning heads from Holly
- ·FBI arrests Florida man planning attack
- ·Illegal immigrant gets life sentence fo
- ·Bibles, water, watches and sneakers: Do
- ·North Korea's latest weapon against
- ·Hezbollah says Israel 'cannot impose
- ·Inside the rise of US oligarchs and how i
- ·Thailand's worst suspected serial ki
- ·Tabi shoes are turning heads from Hollywo
- ·FBI arrests Florida man planning attack o
- ·Illegal immigrant gets life sentence for
- ·Bibles, water, watches and sneakers: Dona
- ·US to give Kyiv anti-personnel landmines
- ·An arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu
- ·One of Vietnam's high-profile politi
- ·Shanghai Walmart Attack: A Man Randomly S
- ·South Korean police officers jailed over
- ·Cambodia publicly shames maid deported af
- ·North Korea to use all forces including n
- ·Philippines condemns China attack of Viet
- ·US adds 2 more Chinese companies to Uyghu
- ·North Korean defector steals South Korean
- ·Malaysia deports Cambodian worker for cal
- ·Rebels battle for Myanmar junta’s weste