Beaten but not broken, Alex de Minaur isn't giving up on his belief he can yet contend for a grand slam title.
De Minaur's latest Australian Open tilt was brought to an abrupt halt via a demoralising, thumping straight-sets 6-3 6-2 6-1 loss to world No.1 Jannik Sinner in Wednesday night's quarter-final.
He has a 0-10 record against Sinner and has failed to claim a set in his four grand slam quarter-final appearances to date.
"I mean, it's pretty tough right now for me to sit here after this defeat and tell you that I believe I can go all the way," the world No.8 conceded.
"But saying that, I do think that there are opportunities out there.
"Tennis is so much about match-ups, right? Yeah, I think right now my worst matchup on tour is probably Jannik. You know, there's a head-to-head that doesn't lie.
"If I'm in a different side of the draw, different little section, then who knows? I genuinely think I'm going to give myself opportunities, and I don't think my peak is making quarter-finals in a slam.
"I see other players that have made it further, have made semis, have made finals, and I do believe that I can be amongst them. If they have been able to accomplish that, then why not me?"
The Sinner match proved a bitter end to an otherwise positive summer for the 25-year-old, who's now made a quarter-final at all four slams.
"The positive's I think how I handled everything," he said.
"I mean, the fact that I came in this year top 10, and a lot of expectation, a lot of pressure. Obviously, the whole country wanted me to do well. I wanted to do well here
"Yeah, I thought I handled it really well to put myself in this position. I would have loved to do more today, but this is what happens sometimes in tennis.
"Look, the negative is after playing some great tennis on home soil and gaining so much, you feel like you just have been slapped across the face, to be honest, to finish off like that.
"I guess the other positive is it's not the first time that I've felt that. I felt the same thing when I played Novak (Djokovic at the Australian Open) a couple of years ago."
In their next match after that drubbing by Djokovic in 2023, de Minaur defeated the Serb for the first time.
A renowned workhorse, he's determined not to let his latest setback derail him either.
"So, hey, I'll survive. I'll keep improving," he said.
"And if anything, I just need to sit with my team and figure out a way to hurt Jannik on the court.
"That's ultimately the way we've got to look at it and find different ways because at the moment we don't have it.
"So back to the drawing board, like I've done my whole career.
"As I said, I still don't think this is my ceiling. I still think I've got more in the tank. So I'll be searching for that."
De Minaur's more immediate focus is on leading Australia into battle against Sweden in their Davis Cup qualifying tie in Stockholm on January 31 and February 1.
With Jordan Thompson, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios all under fitness clouds, Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt will likely need to make changes to the team he initially named last month.
