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Alex de Minaur's hopes of advancing to the ATP Finals last four are hanging by a thread after a gut-wrenching defeat in three sets to Lorenzo Musetti.

Crushing Defeat in Turin

The world No 7 went down 7-5 3-6 7-5 after being unable to close out the match, allowing the Italian to remain in the event and now forcing 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 confronting Fritz in 48 hours is the least of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydney native admits he must address the psychological barriers that risk undermining his career.

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

"I'm uncertain how many times I can handle a loss like this one," de Minaur stated in Turin. "I just have to talk to my team and try to resolve these issues because these are challenges that can't keep happening."

Career Crossroads

"I mean, if I truly desire to be genuine about advancing to the next level in my career, these matches, I must win them. I just must not. It seems as if I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's reaching a point where psychologically it's destroying me."

Characterizing his emotions as "quite dark", de Minaur lamented a series of third-set slip-ups in 2025 and said he must find a way to win the close matches.

Recent Disappointments

The Australia No 1's run of crushing losses comprise:

• Latest 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) outcome against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Tightly-fought US Open quarter-final loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Final four in Monte Carlo against Musetti
• Squandered two-set lead against Bublik at the French Open
• Defeated 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 hard to keep persevering."

Immediate Solution Needed

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

Upcoming Challenge

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

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

Championship Consequences

The world No 2's victory, having already knocked over de Minaur, put Alcaraz a single victory away of securing the year-end 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 unless Sinner, who beat Auger-Aliassime in his first match on Monday, goes undefeated to retain his ATP Finals title.

"I will try not to focus on it," commented Alcaraz. "This will represent 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 objectives, about performing much better than today."