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Alex de Minaur's aspirations of advancing to the ATP Finals semi-finals are hanging by a thread 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, keeping the Italian to remain 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 48 hours is the least of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydneysider admits he must address the mental demons 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 finals destiny in his own hands.

"I'm uncertain 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 sort out these problems because these are challenges that can't keep happening."

Professional Turning Point

"Essentially, if I truly desire to be genuine about taking the next step in my career, these matches, I must win them. I just can't. It seems as if I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. More than anything, it's reaching a point where psychologically it's killing me."

Describing his feelings as "very bleak", de Minaur bemoaned a succession of third-set slip-ups in 2025 and said he must find a way to win the tight encounters.

Recent Setbacks

The top-ranked Australian's streak of devastating defeats comprise:

• Latest 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) outcome 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
• Defeated in a third-set tiebreaker to Andrey Rublev in the Doha semi-finals

"I continue investing everything into these matches," de Minaur said. "When the outcome isn't positive, it's difficult to keep pushing through."

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."

Upcoming Challenge

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

The Australian's hopes remain alive 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 second-ranked player's win, having already knocked over de Minaur, put Alcaraz within one win of securing the year-end top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Even if he loses to Musetti in his last round-robin contest, Alcaraz will regain the world No 1 ranking except if Sinner, who defeated Auger-Aliassime in his opener on Monday, goes undefeated to retain his ATP Finals title.

"I will try not to focus on it," said Alcaraz. "It's going to be a extremely important match for me. I will try not to let the anxiety play a negative role in the match. I will concentrate on my objectives, about performing much better than today."