‘Demon’ turns off the tube

Injured star ignores Open

INJURED Alex de Minaur has declared he will avoid watching the Australian Open and instead prioritise his “sanity” and recovery from a serious injury in the next fortnight.

The Australian young gun was forced to withdraw from the year’s first grand slam on Thursday because of an abdominal tear.

The 20-year-old admitted that while he would endeavour to check scores every now and then, he would not be watching.

“I’m going to disconnect, switch off for a bit, and worry about my recovery. I’ll keep a close eye on results, but I won’t be watching much tennis,” de Minaur said yesterday.

“That’s for my own safety and keeping sane. At this stage, it’s probably not what I want to be looking at and watching.

“I’ll just worry about my things, worry about my rest and my recovery and hopefully I’ll be back in four weeks’ time.”

The world No.21 conceded that despite the overwhelming pain of his injury, he had been unable to help himself from testing his limits.

“I’ve already been shadowing the service motion just to try out and see how it can go,” he said. “It’s still obviously a bit painful but I’m sure it will get better with rest and recovery and I’ll be back to my old self in no time.”

De Minaur said he agonised over the decision to withdraw but risked long-term damage if he went out on court.

“I thought of every way I could step out on court, even if it meant me serving underarm,” he said.

“I’ve just got to look after my body and there’ll be more Australian Opens in the future.”

De Minaur is facing at least four weeks on the sidelines and is cautiously targeting a comeback at the Indian Wells Masters in March.

Meanwhile, de Minaur said his ATP Cup and Davis Cup teammate Nick Kyrgios had received “a tough draw” in the Australian Open but backed him to take it to the world’s best in Rafael Nadal should the pair both progress to the fourth round.

“I think Nick’s in a good head space,” de Minaur said.

“He’s playing some great tennis at the moment and I think he’s feeling good. Hopefully the whole Australian crowd is behind him.

“It’s going to be a very tough draw for him but hopefully he gets to the level where he plays Rafa and I’m sure it will be an amazing match.”