Alex de Minaur's uneven season has hit another road bump as Australia's No.1 succumbed to a shock last-16 loss at the Barcelona Open.
On a day when Carlos Alcaraz shelved his latest bid to quickly regain his world No.1 spot from Jannik Sinner, withdrawing from Barcelona with a wrist injury, de Minaur missed a chance to cash in on the Spaniard's absence as he suffered a deflating 6-4 6-3 loss to world no.88 Hamad Medjedovic.
Fresh from his promising clay-court season opener in the Monte Carlo Masters, where he had reached the quarter-finals only to lose a match he felt he should have won against Valentin Vacherot, de Minaur had explained how he was keen to kick on as third seed at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona.
