‘I'm broken for Alex': Ash Barty’s admission after Australia’s No.1 Alex di Minaur withdraws from Wimbledon

Ash Barty has led the laments from tennis luminaries for the luckless Alex de Minaur but is confident the popular Australian ace will bounce back from the crushing injury blow that’s ended his Wimbledon dream.

“I’m broken for Alex,” admitted the former Wimbledon champion Barty, following de Minaur’s withdrawal before his quarter-final match against Novak Djokovic on Centre Court on Wednesday because of a hip injury.

Speaking after her winning return to Centre Court in an invitation doubles match, the 2021 winner added: “I mean, you could see how much it means to him. As he said, this was the biggest match of his life. This was the opportunity that he had worked so hard for. To have something awful like that happen...

“But he is a resilient athlete. He’s a ripping guy. I know that this will be a challenge, but there will be a silver lining somewhere along the way that he’ll grow from, absolutely.

“He’s too intelligent and too driven and passionate and motivated to not learn from it and not grow from it.

“It hurts, though. Absolutely you can’t hide behind the fact that it’s awful. You have to be able to accept it.

“It’s okay to let it be flattening for a while but he will, I’m sure, be able to come back. When he’s back on the court and fit and healthy, he’ll be doing what he does best again.”

De Minaur has what he described as a ‘unique’ hip injury which could keep him out for three to six weeks, but could have sidelined him even longer, perhaps for four months, if he had tried to play against seven-times champion Djokovic.

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash told the BBC: “It’s disappointing, hugely disappointing for Alex, who has got himself into a position where he feels he can compete at the end of grand slam tournaments and has a shot of getting to finals and semi-finals.

“He is playing Djokovic, but there is a question mark about Novak’s fitness as well, so you think this is possibly the best opportunity Alex has getting to go further.

“You can see he was very devastated - but he has made the right decision. It was bad luck for him, bad luck for Centre Court and the crowd. But really good news for Novak Djokovic.”

Fellow Sydneysider Max Purcell, who had just progressed to the semi-finals of the men’s doubles with Jordan Thompson, said the 25-year-old should not get too down on himself because he would bounce back.

“After our doubles, I saw him walking down the stairs a bit ginger and a bit upset, obviously,” said former Wimbledon doubles champ Purcell.

“He’s always wanted to do well here. He beat Novak to start the year and really wanted to beat him again.

“He’s been one of the guys to beat lately, especially on grass. I think he knew that if he pushed through against Djokovic, he had a good chances to sneak through to the final as well.

“But in saying that, the guy can make another 10 quarter-finals, so he shouldn’t be too down on himself. He’s been such a good player for so long that I feel like he’s got the confidence that he’s gonna stay at the top.”