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Alex de Minaur's aspirations of advancing to the ATP Finals semi-finals are dangling by a slender margin after a heartbreaking three-set loss to Italian opponent Lorenzo Musetti.

Crushing Defeat in Turin

The seventh-ranked player went down 7-5 3-6 7-5 after failing to serve out the match, allowing the Italian to remain in the event and now leaving the Australian needing to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to reach the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But facing Fritz in 48 hours is the smallest of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydney native concedes he must confront the psychological barriers that risk undermining his career.

A unsuccessful competitor of all six of his major tournament quarter-final appearances, the 26-year-old was unable to disguise his anguish after experiencing yet another high-stakes near miss with his finals destiny in his own hands.

"I don't know how many times I can deal with a loss like this one," de Minaur said in Turin. "I just have to talk to my team and try to resolve these problems because these are challenges that cannot continue occurring."

Career Crossroads

"Essentially, if I really want to be genuine about taking the next step in my career, these contests, I can't lose them. I just must not. It seems as if I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's getting to a point where psychologically it's killing me."

Characterizing his feelings as "quite dark", de Minaur lamented a succession of final set collapses in 2025 and said he must find a way to win the tight encounters.

Recent Setbacks

The Australia No 1's streak of devastating defeats comprise:

• Recent 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) result against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Tightly-fought US Open quarter-final loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Semi-final in Monte Carlo against Musetti
• Squandered two-set lead against Bublik at the French Open
• Lost in a third-set tiebreaker to Andrey Rublev in the Doha semi-finals

"I keep putting everything into these matches," de Minaur said. "Whenever the result's not there, it's difficult to keep persevering."

Urgent Resolution Needed

"It's something that if it isn't resolved, it's going to eat me alive. I must get it sorted quickly rather than delayed."

Forthcoming Test

De Minaur and Fritz are tied at five wins each in past meetings, though the American world No 6 won their meeting in this showpiece event last year.

The Australian's hopes remain flickering after Fritz suffered a 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 defeat to Carlos Alcaraz that guaranteed the Spaniard would advance to the semi-finals as the winner of the Jimmy Connors group.

Tournament Implications

The second-ranked player's win, having already knocked over de Minaur, put Alcaraz within one win of securing the season-ending top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Regardless if he loses to Musetti in his final group match, Alcaraz will regain the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who defeated Auger-Aliassime in his first match on Monday, goes undefeated to defend his ATP Finals title.

"I'll attempt not to focus on it," commented Alcaraz. "It's going to be a extremely important match for me. I will try not to let the anxiety play a bad time in the match. I will think about my goals, about performing much better than today."