Alex de Minaur's admission about girlfriend Katie Boulter as US Open dream crushed

Alex de Minaur has revealed how fellow tennis player girlfriend Katie Boulter has helped him keep things in perspective and not get too downtrodden about losses, as his run at the US Open came to a halt on Tuesday. The Aussie star went down 6-2 4-6 1-6 2-6 against World No.3 Daniil Medvedev, and will be leaning on Boulter to overcome the crushing defeat.

De Minaur recently rose to a career-high ranking of World No.13 off the back of some stellar form on the North American hardcourt swing. He continued his fantastic display en route to a fourth-round showdown with Medvedev in New York, and recently beat the Russian on his way to a maiden ATP Masters 1000 final at the Canadian Open in Toronto.

'DIRTY TRICKS': Coco Gauff's coach accused of 'disrespectful' act

'HYPOCRISY': Djokovic dragged into bizarre Alcaraz 'magic pill' furore

It marked de Minaur's fourth victory over a top-10 player this year and came 10 months after he also beat the 2021 US Open champion for the first time in Paris. However he couldn't repeat the performance on Tuersday as Medvedev advanced to the quarter-finals.

Discussing his rich vein of form on Monday (AEST), de Minaur opened up about how his happiness off the court has positively affected his results on it. De Minaur has been dating British tennis player Boulter since 2020. Both were in action at the US Open, with Boulter making it to the third round.

"A big thing that I admire a lot about Katie is how she acts and how she gets herself up during matches," the Aussie said after Boulter bowed out at Flushing Meadows. "Her philosophy is something that I envy in a way. She is very positive. She doesn't take tennis matches for granted.

"She doesn't mind the results. She goes out there competing and enjoys herself. I've learned a lot from that. To be honest, I'm probably on the other spectrum. I live and die by the sword and matches do hurt me in ways.

"Over the years, I've learned that as much as it hurts in the moment, I can get off the court and the more I spend some time with Katie, we're both able to kind of forget about it and move on. And it's helped me a lot to not have to linger with some of these matches. I've been able to turn the page and move on and look forward to the next challenge."

Alex de Minaur goes down to Daniil Medvedev at US Open

De Minaur was under no illusions that he would have his work cut out for him against Medvedev. As well as ending Novak Djokovic's quest for a calendar-year Grand Slam in the US Open final two years ago, the World No.3 from Russia also pushed Rafa Nadal to five sets in the 2019 title decider.

Medvedev considers himself a hard-court specialist and always seems to produce the goods at the US Open. "He's an extreme kind of counter-puncher, a defensive specialist who finds ways to bait opponents into playing the game style he wants," de Minaur said before the match. "He's an extremely good tactician and you know whenever you play him you have got to be ready for an absolute chess battle.

"I haven't played him in a major yet. So this is going to be a new experience for both of us. If anything, it's just going to be a long match. I'm sure there's going to be chances both ways. It's about who just sticks around and fights to the end and finds a way. I am expecting an absolute battle."

De Minaur was the last Australian in the singles draw at the US Open after Rinky Hijikata went down to Frances Tiafoe in straight sets on Monday. Medvedev will now play fellow Russian Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals.

with AAP

Sign up to our newsletter and score the biggest sport stories of the week.