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Alex de Minaur's hopes of reaching the ATP Finals semi-finals are dangling by a slender margin after a heartbreaking three-set loss to 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 stay alive in the tournament and now leaving the Australian requiring to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to reach the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in two days' time is the smallest of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydney native admits he must address the psychological barriers that threaten to cruel his career.

A unsuccessful competitor of all six of his grand slam quarter-final appearances, the twenty-six-year-old was unable to disguise his distress after suffering yet another crucial opportunity slipping away with his tournament fate in his own hands.

"I'm uncertain how many times I can handle 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."

Professional Turning Point

"I mean, if I truly desire to be genuine about taking the next step in my career, these contests, I can't lose them. I just can't. It seems as if I've lost a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's reaching a point where mentally it's killing me."

Characterizing his feelings as "quite dark", de Minaur lamented a series 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 crushing losses include:

• Latest 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) result against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Closely-contested US Open quarter-final defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Final four in Monte Carlo against Musetti
• Wasted two-set lead against Bublik at the French Open
• Lost in a third-set tiebreaker to Andrey Rublev in the Doha semi-finals

"I continue investing everything into these matches," de Minaur said. "Whenever the outcome isn't positive, it's hard to keep persevering."

Immediate Solution Needed

"It's something that if it doesn't get sorted, it's going to eat me alive. I need to get it sorted sooner rather than later."

Forthcoming Test

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in previous encounters, though the American world No 6 emerged victorious in their meeting in this prestigious tournament last year.

The Aussie's hopes remain flickering after Fritz suffered a 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 loss to Carlos Alcaraz that ensured the Spaniard would progress to the semi-finals as the victor of the Jimmy Connors group.

Tournament Implications

The world No 2's win, having already defeated de Minaur, put Alcaraz within one win of securing the year-end top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

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

"I'll attempt not to think about it," said Alcaraz. "This will represent a extremely important match for me. I will try not to let the nerves play a bad time in the match. I will think about my objectives, about performing much better than today."