MUBADALA DC OPEN

July 31, 2026

Alex De Minaur

Press Conference

B. NAKASHIMA/A. De Minaur

7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. A tough one today. Just what do you think made the difference? JUST down to break point conversion or something else?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I think it comes down to that. Obviously I had more chances than he did, more break points, but all credit to him. He came out with some great serving, a lot of first serves.

The only second serve that he gave me on a break point I broke him, and that was early in the match. Yeah, I think overall I played at a high level. I just threw in two pretty awful games on my serve, one in the first set at 4-3. The new balls, which again, I would love to take back, but it's one of those.

I was probably playing better, having better stats on top in the first set, and it just slipped away. Then all of a sudden, in the second set I've got my chances. Break points, just can't convert. All of a sudden I throw in a bad game, and that's the match.

So it happens. It's a little bit frustrating, but yeah, you live and you learn.

Q. I just want to ask you about Brandon, having played him now twice in the last month or so. I know you don't have a long history necessarily against him, but in these two meetings if there were common themes, anything about his play of late? It's now a second semi in the last three tournaments he played.

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, look, I think the biggest thing for me is his serve. I think his serve has improved an insane amount. I feel like he hits his spots very, very well, and he's a very good server under pressure.

I felt, again, like you look at the match today, I had plenty of chances. I was getting on top of him probably if we got into the rally, but most of the time I wasn't able to get into the rally. He was just serving really well in a timely manner.

It's one of those things that when you get a lot of free points on your serve, it helps the rest of your game. So a lot of credit to him.

Q. Just looking ahead to Canada, I'm curious what you think of that opportunity. I think you're No. 3 seed in that draw with some of the draws that have happened and, yeah, just how you see that event shaping up for yourself and also just more broadly with a couple of the bigger guys not being there.

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I'm hoping that I'm going to feel a little bit better next week. That's what it's been all about, just building and feeling a little bit more comfortable on court.

As I said, I thought this week there was a lot of positives. Of course, it could have been better. I think today was probably a match that I could have won if I was just a little bit sharper.

But going into Canada, you know, hoping to build upon this, slowly getting a little bit more comfortable on the court and sharpening up in a couple of areas. Yeah, as far as the draw and all that, it's a Masters. It's an opportunity. I'm excited, but there's a long way to go.

I just point looking ahead, and so I know I've got a bye, and I play the winner of two opponents. That's as far as I know.

So I'll head over there, get ready for a tournament, and hopefully, yeah, I'll be in Canada for a long time.

Q. Just one Aussie question. I'm curious if you have any thoughts on Bernard Tomic making a run this week? I haven't seen that name advancing in ATP draws for a while. So I can't imagine you probably watched any of the full matches while you were here, but just thoughts on seeing him resurface here?

ALEX de MINAUR: Yeah, I watched the highlights against Khachanov, and it was amazing to see. Obviously we haven't seen that level from BT for a very, very long time, and it was great to see because he's got such a different and unique playing style. So when he's on, he's always been a lot of fun to watch.

Yeah, it's great to see him taking the challenger title and then doing well in Los Cabos. I'm hoping it kind of sparks something and he can keep this kind of momentum going.

He's a very tricky opponent to play against, very awkward.