'Fearless' De Minaur impresses in loss to Berdych

Alex De Minaur has left a tennis great in awe of his 'fearless' effort in a four-set loss to Tomas Berdych.

The Aussie teen's magical month is over after he was sent packing from the Australian Open by the veteran Czech in four sets.

Berdych, the 19th seed, played spoil-sport on Hisense Arena on Tuesday night, defeating the promising baseliner 6-3 3-6 6-0 6-1 in their first-round meeting.

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De Minaur soared to the Sydney International final last week but was on the back foot against the six-time Melbourne Park quarter-finalist, running out of juice and losing in two hours and five minutes.

However in the very first game of their match on Tuesday night, former Australian Open champion Jim Courier marvelled over the 18-year-old in commentary.

De Minaur showed no fear against Berdych's massive serve, standing almost on the baseline to receive first serves.

As Courier pointed out, not even the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal employ such tactics against serves as big as Berdych's.

"They don't stand there, they give more space to respect the speed," Courier said,

"He's fearless at 18."

The teenager has established himself as Australia's next hot prospect after impressive displays at the grand slam warm-up events in Brisbane and Sydney.

De Minaur reached the semi-finals at the Brisbane International before making the final in Sydney.

He managed to beat six top-50 opponents in two weeks, including recent World No.3 Milos Raonic.

with agencies