Alex De Minaur makes cryptic 'assuming things' comment after Rafael Nadal loss

Alex De Minaur claimed that people "assume things" after his loss to Rafael Nadal

Alex De Minaur claimed that people had “assumed things” after suffering a straight-set loss to Rafael Nadal. The world No. 11 defeated the Spaniard just 10 days ago in Barcelona. But Nadal flipped the script at the Madrid Open, coming through 7-6(6) 6-3 as the pressure got to De Minaur.

Nadal earned the biggest win of his comeback as he sent De Minaur packing in two hours. Ahead of the contest, the 37-year-old claimed that he wasn’t the favourite given that he was playing just his seventh match in 15 months and had been struggling physically coming into the tournament. But the five-time Madrid Open proved himself wrong as he outfoxed De Minaur, showing flashes of vintage Nadal as he fired down 16 winners and showed clear improvements on his serve. Meanwhile, the occasion overwhelmed the Australian made 33 unforced errors and gave the match away on a double fault. It was a highly-anticipated contest, especially because they had faced off in the same stage of the Barcelona Open last week. And speaking in the wake of defeat, De Minaur admitted that there was a lot of outside noise and pressure going into the match. “It's never easy playing these types of matches obviously. You want to come out and play at a high level, but again, these conditions in Madrid make it a little bit more tricky to play the way you want to play,” the 25-year-old said.

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Alex De Minaur said there was double the noise surrounding his Madrid Open clash with Rafael Nadal

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De Minaur defeated Nadal 7-5 6-1 in Barcelona but the eight-time title winner felt as though their Madrid Open contest was on another level. He continued: “You know, you play in Barcelona, and then all of a sudden this match over here, everything doubles. All the outside noise doubles. I wish I would have played better, but I think his level lifted, and he was looking quite good out there, if I may say.” After Nadal claimed that he wasn’t the favourite, De Minaur made a vague remark about people assuming things. “Look, this is what happens. I mean, you go out there to a match, and, you know, all the pressure in the world is on you by everyone, everyone in this room, everyone in media themselves. They assume things,” he added. “So, look, I think today was a tough match. I think I could have played better, and maybe if I come up and I play my best level, then I take this match, but we'll never know because I didn't bring that sort of level today.”

Alex De Minaur beat Rafael Nadal in Barcelona

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