Alex de Minaur delivers his honest verdict on players complaining about the conditions at the Canadian Open

Alex de Minaur is through to the Canadian Open quarter-finals after a spell-binding performance against Frances Tiafoe.

The American fought valiantly against de Minaur; however, the Australian was simply too strong, showing off his unbelievable court coverage throughout a 6-2 4-6 6-4 victory.

De Minaur, nicknamed the ‘Demon,’ has joined the likes of Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals.

Some players, such as Fritz and Russian star Andrey Rublev, have complained about the conditions in Toronto, with Fritz highlighting the difficulty of controlling the Wilson US Open balls compared to the Slazenger ones used at Wimbledon.

After his victory against Tiafoe, De Minaur weighed in on the discussion.

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Alex de Minaur says his number one focus is ‘not complaining’

Speaking to reporters after victory over Tiafoe, the Australian was candid when asked about the conditions in Toronto and any adjustments he has made.

De Minaur said: “Well, the number one focus point is not complaining. That for me is a must, right. It’s not going to change, right.

“Is complaining about the conditions going to give me the best chance to perform? No. So, for me it’s just about getting on with it, dealing with it, and just trying to find a way and committing to my shots.

Photo by Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images

“It is hard, don’t get me wrong. I haven’t felt my greatest. A lot of players have expressed that they haven’t felt so comfortable out there.

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“But for me it’s about finding a way to get over the line. It doesn’t need to be pretty, it’s just about finding a way.”

Earlier in the tournament, Taylor Fritz said he’d been having an ‘incredibly hard time just putting the ball in the court.’

Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev said it is ‘super tough to control’ the ball in Toronto compared to Montreal.

What did Taylor Fritz say about the conditions in Toronto?

After defeating Roberto Carballes Baena in the Canadian Open first round, Taylor Fritz was asked about his issues with adapting to conditions in Toronto.

He said: “To be honest, I feel like it’s like everything since being here,” he began. “Yesterday was the first practice I had since being here that I actually felt like I could like, genuinely, I felt like I knew where the ball was gonna go off my racket.

“Like, I’ve been having an incredibly hard time just putting the ball in the court. Typically, when I’m missing shots, I know exactly why I’m missing. I know what I did wrong.

“Like the first couple of days I was here and even in my first round match, there are balls going ten feet long that feel exactly the same as the one that was just right before it went in. So I just felt like in general, the conditions are… It’s been really hard to just play good tennis. I think there’s a lot of like ugly tennis, there’s a lot of people double-faulting, a lot of mistakes.

“I think it’s two things. I think these balls are for sure the hardest balls to control that we play with all year at the Wilson US Opens, and they’re not bad. It’s just the balls that we’ve been playing with on tour for the last couple of years consistently the most. They’re just really soft and like more dead.

“So, you know, they slow down off the bounce. They hold on your strings longer. There’s just, like a more soft dead ball that we play with.

“So now you play with these, they shoot off your racket, they jump off the court faster, and then this court is very fast compared to, I thought DC was pretty fast. This is faster coming through the court even more. So it’s tough to control for sure.

“Someone hits a really big, flat ball into you. It’s tough to just play back into the court.”

The American has handled these concerns well since his victory over the Spaniard, defeating home favourite Gabriel Diallo in the third round, before coming through a marathon fourth round match against Czechia’s Jiri Lehecka, winning 7-6 6-7 7-6.

The American second seed faces the sixth seed and the 2024 Canadian Open finalist, Andrey Rublev, in the quarter-finals.

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