Alex De Minaur admits career goals and dreams are 'fading away' after Flavio Cobolli inflicts straight-sets defeat at Wimbledon

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Alex de Minaur said his latest Grand Slam defeat is beginning to erode his belief in his own progress, after a 7-5 7-6(4) 6-3 loss to Flavio Cobolli in the fourth round at Wimbledon. Beyond the immediate disappointment, the world No. 6 is grappling with a recurring issue in the biggest moments of majors.

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The draw at SW19 had opened up in the Australian's favour, with a wildcard awaiting in the quarter-finals while both Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic remained in the opposite half of the bracket.

But control once again slipped away on a sweltering No 1 Court. De Minaur led 5-2 in the second set and held breaks twice in the third, but failed to convert either position as Cobolli’s aggression and consistency shifted the momentum.

Cobolli, the ninth seed, also created sustained pressure on the Australian’s serve, carving out 18 break points as De Minaur struggled to land a consistent first delivery at key stages of the match.

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”It breaks me inside," De Minaur said of his repeated setbacks. "That’s the reality of it. Many, many hours get put into my craft, and countless years to kind of have moments like these. To not step up, it’s truly gut-wrenching. It’s very tough.

”It just feels like they keep on coming. It’s not easy to take. You go through moments in your career, times when you feel that there are opportunities to be taken, to take the next step, to make it to the next level, to become an even better version of yourself.

”And to fall short constantly, you start doubting yourself. You start doubting whether you’re going to be able to break through and kind of take it to the next step.

”It’s probably a combination of one side of me being tough on myself, but the other one is me being realistic. And as much as I’m in a great position, the fact that I want more, and I’m not able to achieve more, it’s a battle that I deal with every day. This is just another one to add to the tally.”

Alex de Minaur suffered a straight-sets defeat on Monday

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An 11-time ATP Tour champion, De Minaur has made the quarter-finals at six of the last 10 Grand Slams.

But he has never progressed further and believes the accumulation of setbacks are beginning to affect his outlook.

”The goals, the beliefs, the dreams that you have, they kind of start fading away or they feel a little bit further away than when they once were,” he continued.

"I feel like a couple of years ago, I was definitely closer. Now it just feels like I’m getting a little bit further away from those dreams.”

De Minaur also insisted the issues lie within his own handling of pressure moments rather than his coaching team under Adolfo Gutierrez.

”It all comes down to myself and how I’ve dealt with certain situations,” he said.

"We practiced before the tournament started and the issue is playing this match and playing like I’ve got the weight of the world on my shoulders. That’s the issue. It gets brought up on myself.

”I need to deal with it better, because if not, I’m just not going to be able to achieve the goals and dreams I’ve got.”

Cobolli: We don't have a house

Cobolli, who reached the Roland-Garros final in June, made an unexpected revelation after his fourth-round victory, claiming he still needed to find accommodation for the remainder of the tournament.

The Italian became the first player to book a place in the quarter-finals from the bottom half of the draw, where he will face either British wildcard Arthur Fery, who stunned Grigor Dimitrov in five sets.

"I was feeling tired, so I’m very happy to reach the quarter-final in three sets because it’s very important to keep the energy for the next round," said Cobolli.

Cobolli also reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2025

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On his plans after the match, he added: ”There is the World Cup, I want to see Spain v Portugal, so I think I’ll go to the house early, but first we have to find one because, actually, we don’t have a house.

"We have our luggage at the old house and now we have to find [a new] one. Maybe you guys have a house here in Wimbledon?"

Speaking later at his press conference, Cobolli confirmed that a family relative had come to his rescue in providing a suitable temporary home.

"My grandfather helped us to find a solution for tonight. But we found solution for all the week, I hope," he added.

"An Italian family give us all the house here in Wimbledon, so it's really cool. I will say thanks to them when I see them."

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