Australian number one Alex De Minaur has admitted that he was unsatisfied with his quarter-final exit at the US Open, conceding that he needs to build off the successful week if he wants to improve his performances.
De Minaur was dominated by Austrian second seed Dominic Thiem, crashing out 6-1 6-2 6-4 in just over two hours.
Despite the 21-year-old achieving his first appearance in the final eight of a grand slam, De Minaur was left 'disappointed' by his sudden exit, wishing that he had put more of a fight up.
"Obviously the way I'm feeling now, it's just disappointed with the way my US Open campaign has finished. I would have loved to put more of a fight," De Minaur said after the match
"He played at a very high level, and I wasn't able to lift mine up to meet his. Still got lots of, lots of things to work on. I guess that's an upside.
De Minaur praised the work of Thiem in limiting his chances, conceding that he needs to grow into his body and improve his fitness if he wants to compete with the likes of the world number three.
"Yeah, he played a very solid match," he said.
"The one kind of chance I had, I had a 15-30, then I had a let cord, which I'm not saying the match would have changed in any way, shape or form, but who knows. I just broke him, held from Love-40 down. If maybe I broke him 5-3 serving for the set, who knows.
"He played well. I didn't get chances. The one little chance I got, I just got unlucky.
"At the end of the day there's a big thing that you can kind of tell, and that's the six years' difference. I think that's one of the biggest things you can just tell. Not just experience, but also physique, fitness. He's grown into his body. Now I've got to match that."
With the French Open set to commence in a fortnight, De Minaur admitted that he wasn't satisfied by the quarter-final exit, looking to build off the strong run for the rest of the season and beyond.
"I'm not satisfied with where I am. This is where I want to be, but I'm not satisfied just coming here and getting to quarters any more. I want to keep on pushing. I'll strive for bigger and better things. I just got to keep improving," he believes.
"Hopefully with years to come I'll get bigger, I'll get stronger, I'll grow into my body a little bit more, then it will just be another level.
Still, I don't want to wait for those couple years. I want to be making strides as soon as I can. I'll put in all the work I can to keep putting myself in these positions.