SYDNEY, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Australia's highest ranked men's tennis star Alex de Minaur has been forced to pull out of this week's Adelaide Open and remains in doubt for next week's Australian Open.
Suffering from a rib injury, the 20 year-old young gun told reporters on Monday evening that he will undergo daily medical treatment in the hopes of being ready for the Grand Slam tournament.
"At the moment we're going to take it day by day," a dejected de Minaur said.
"It's something that is not ideal. And at this stage, we are just looking at short-term goals and trying to get better each day [with] a lot of treatment."
"I have seen the physiotherapists, I have seen the doctors, and I will be continuing to do that for the whole of the week and hopefully I will be ready to play in Melbourne."
Playing a staggering five matches in just nine days at last week's ATP Cup, de Minaur faced off against world number one Rafael Nadal in the semifinal stage of the tournament.
Although the world number 21 went down to the Spaniard in a close fought 6-4, 5-7, 1-6, battle, the Sydney-born prodigy believes he definitely has what it takes to beat the world's best.
"I have often been told that I don't have the weapons to beat these higher-level guys," he said.
"But I think I have shown that I have got another part of my game that I can go to... I'm going to keep on improving and keep on getting better and hopefully keep on breaking barriers."
