Sweet Demon moment captured after devastating loss

An emotional Alex de Minaur has been consoled by British tennis star girlfriend Katie Boulter after his heartbreaking five-set loss to world No.5 Andrey Rublev in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Sunday night.

Rublev managed to recover after dropping the second and third sets, to take the match 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-0, after a marathon four hours on court.

De Minaur managed to claw his way back into the match in stunning fashion, winning the second and third sets after tiebreakers 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4), but fell away in the final two sets and was unable to capitalise on Rublev’s calf cramps.

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After the match, Boulter, who watched on from the stands of Rod Laver Arena, was spotted hugging partner de Minaur, who was covering his face with a towel, looking heartbroken on the warm down bike.

De Minaur missed the opportunity to become the first Australian men’s player to reach the Australian open quarter-finals since Nick Kyrgios in 2015.

Alex de Minaur of Australia reacts after his heartbreaking loss.

“He ruins de Minaur’s dream of reaching a quarter-final with some of the best ball striking you’ll ever see,” Todd Woodbrige said on Nine.

The match went for a whopping four hours and 15 minutes, the longest of Rublev’s career to date.

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“I want to say, amazing match to Alex. I didn’t expect that little bit (where he tested me),” Rublev told Jim Courier on Nine post match.

“I started to tell to myself ‘you’re going to die today but you will do everything.’ And somehow I started to play better and better and I found more energy and I was able to win.

De Minaur took to the warm down bike next to girlfriend Katie Boulter.

Rublev lauded the 24-year-old Australian, who managed to create a “dramatic” contest.

“He’s one of the fastest players, the way he moves with the legs, and takes the speed, it’s crazy. You could see it was super tough to play,” Rublev said.

“I start to feel a bit of pain there but it’s normal after four hours with intensity like this … don’t cry, don’t start to feel sorry for yourself.

“It’s always tough to play against Alex, we’ve played a couple of times and all of them were dramatic.”

Rublev will now face Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.