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Alex de Minaur's aspirations of reaching the ATP Finals last four 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 being unable to close out the match, allowing the Italian to stay alive in the tournament and now leaving the Australian needing to decisively defeat 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 pressing worries as the Sydneysider admits he must confront the mental demons that risk undermining 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 anguish after experiencing yet another crucial opportunity slipping away with his tournament fate 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 sort out these issues because these are issues that cannot continue occurring."

Professional Turning Point

"Essentially, if I truly desire to be serious about advancing to the next level 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. Most importantly, it's getting to a point where psychologically it's destroying me."

Describing his emotions as "quite dark", de Minaur lamented a succession of final set collapses in 2025 and said he must find a way to win the close matches.

Recent Disappointments

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 loss 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 keep putting everything into these matches," de Minaur said. "Whenever the outcome isn't positive, it's hard to keep pushing through."

Urgent Resolution 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 tied at five wins each in previous encounters, though the American world No 6 won their matchup in this prestigious tournament last year.

The Australian's hopes remain flickering after Fritz suffered 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 victor of the Jimmy Connors group.

Tournament Implications

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

Regardless if he loses to Musetti in his final group match, Alcaraz will reclaim the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who defeated Auger-Aliassime in his opener on Monday, goes unbeaten to defend 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 nerves play a bad time in the match. I will concentrate on my objectives, about feeling much better than today."