Slip in the spotlight: How this defeat exposes cracks in Alex De Minaur’s 2026

Alex de Minaur went into 2026 with plenty of expectations on his shoulders, seen by many as one of the few players capable of breaking up the Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner stranglehold on men’s tennis.

The Australian put together arguably his most impressive campaign yet in 2025, making two Grand Slam quarter-finals, a semi-final appearance at the ATP Finals, and picking up his 10th career title in Washington.

Now 27, De Minaur is right in that age range when a lot of players start reaching their peak form and hitting new heights. But so far, it hasn’t quite gone to plan.

His start to the year has been underwhelming by comparison. Even though he’s added another title to his collection, 2026 has felt like a bit of a step back overall — and his latest defeat might be the one that raises the most eyebrows.

Alex de Minaur’s Madrid Open loss to Rafael Jodar

Coming into the Madrid Open, De Minaur was hoping to get his clay season back on track. He had managed back-to-back wins at the Monte-Carlo Masters for the first time this year before being knocked out in the quarterfinals by Valentin Vacherot.

But any momentum from Monte Carlo didn’t last long. At the Barcelona Open, he just scraped past world number 83 Sebastian Ofner, then fell 6-3, 6-4 to Hamad Medjedovic.

Things went from bad to worse in Madrid. De Minaur suffered his heaviest defeat of the season, losing his opening match 6-3, 6-1 to Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar.

The result was a huge milestone for Jodar, who earned his first top ten win and set up a third-round clash with Joao Fonseca. Meanwhile, De Minaur looked completely dejected after another disappointing performance.

A lot of De Minaur’s losses this year have come against strong opponents, where he put up a decent fight. But winning just four games against a teenager in Madrid signals deeper problems than just poor form.

Alex de Minaur’s points to defend for the rest of the clay season

The next opportunity for De Minaur to change his fortunes will come at the Italian Open in Rome. After being eliminated in the fourth round last year, he’ll only need to defend 100 ATP points at this event.

He’ll have even less to protect at Roland Garros, where he exited in the second round in 2025. That match saw him lose a five-set battle against Alexander Bublik, earning just 50 points from the tournament.

A strong showing in Paris could help him gain valuable points and possibly return to his career-high ranking of sixth in the world.

Read more: