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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 defeat in three sets to Lorenzo Musetti.

Devastating Loss in Turin

The seventh-ranked player succumbed 7-5 3-6 7-5 after failing to serve out the match, allowing the Italian to stay alive in the event and now leaving the Australian requiring to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But facing Fritz in 48 hours is the smallest of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydney native admits he must confront the psychological barriers that threaten to cruel his career.

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

"I'm uncertain how many times I can handle a loss like this one," de Minaur stated in Turin. "I must talk to my team and try to sort out these issues because these are issues that cannot continue occurring."

Professional Turning Point

"I mean, if I truly desire to be genuine about advancing to the next level in my career, these matches, I can't lose them. I just must not. It seems as if I've lost a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's reaching a point where mentally it's destroying 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 close matches.

Recent Setbacks

The Australia No 1's streak of crushing losses include:

• Recent 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) result against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Tightly-fought US Open quarter-final defeat 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 commented. "When the outcome isn't positive, it's hard to keep pushing through."

Urgent Resolution Needed

"This is an issue that if it doesn't get sorted, it's going to eat me alive. I must get it sorted quickly rather than delayed."

Forthcoming Test

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in past meetings, though the sixth-ranked American won their meeting in this prestigious tournament last year.

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

Championship Consequences

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

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

"I'll attempt not to focus on it," commented Alcaraz. "It's going to be a really big 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 feeling much better than today."