Unexpected loss has not dimmed de Minaur's confidence

The Australian No.1 rose to a career-high seventh in the world after reaching the quarter-final at Roland Garros then winning in s'Hertogenbosch on Sunday.

But his first exit round at Queen's Club, where he was defending 300 points after reaching last year's final, means he will slip back as points expire after a year.

"The ranking spot doesn't really bother me too much as it fluctuates every week," he said after losing to Lorenzo Mussetti 1-6 6-4 6-2 on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT).

"All of us in the positions 7-12 are all a few points away, so any given week it changes. I am used to that. It has felt every week I go up, I go down, it depends who has a good week."

More relevant for de Minaur is that he feels his game is in a good place. The loss in London was only his second in ten matches and he believes he was the better player until mental and physical fatigue set in after his endeavours in the Netherlands.

"Looking at the bigger picture that is the most important thing," he added. "I played well today, just mentally ran way at the end. I'm feeling confident on the grass, and now I have a lot of time to prepare for Wimby [Wimbledon].

"The tennis world is non-stop, there was no real chance to celebrate [Sunday's win]. I won Sunday, fly that night, have a hit yesterday, play today. I would rather go deeper here but it is what it is. I have been dealt this hand and will deal with it.

"There are days things don't go your way. You just have to move on, there's no other way to look at it.

"I have won plenty of titles and plenty of times lost the first round the next time. It is tennis. It is frustrating as I thought I was maybe the better player in the first two sets."

Thinking ahead to Wimbledon he added: "I will have enough preparation, be ready to go and be looking forward to it."

Australian Associated Press