Tired Alex de Minaur falls short in Canadian Open Masters quarter-finals

Kieran Francis

Tired Alex de Minaur falls short in Canadian Open Masters quarter-finals image

Alex de Minaur is out of the Canadian Open at the quarter-final stage, losing to USA fourth seed Ben Shelton in straight sets 6-3 6-4.

It was a tight match across one hour, 32 minutes but the American converted three of his five break points to get the win and set up a semi-final against fellow American Taylor Fritz.

Having won the Washington Open last week, De Minaur looked fatigued at times throughout the contest as he played his eighth match in 14 days.

The Aussie will now turn his attention to the Cincinnati Masters, which is the last big tournament before the US Open.

MORE: Alexei Popyrin vs. Alexander Zverev result: Australian falls short of defending Canadian Open title

Both players fended off break points as it remained on serve for the first five games in a tight opening set

However, Shelton only need one break point to go ahead 4-2 in the sixth game and the set remained on serve until the American served it out at 6-3.

The world no.7 continued his momentum in the second set, securing an early break to lead 2-1.

But De Minaur displayed all his fighting qualities to strike back and immediately break in the next service game.

The Aussie would have been hoping to kick on through the rest of the set, but he handed the break straight back to Shelton with a double-fault to go behind 2-3.

Games remained on serve for the rest of the match as the American fourth seed moved into a semi-final against compatriot Fritz.

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.