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The Australian tennis star's hopes of reaching the ATP Finals last four are dangling by a slender margin after a gut-wrenching defeat in three sets 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 event and now forcing the Australian needing to decisively defeat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in two days' time is the least of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydney native admits he must confront the mental demons 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 distress after experiencing yet another crucial opportunity slipping away with his tournament fate in his own hands.

"I'm uncertain how many times I can deal with a loss like this one," de Minaur stated 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."

Career Crossroads

"Essentially, if I really want to be genuine about taking the next step in my career, these contests, I must win them. I just must not. It feels like I've lost 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 succession of final set collapses in 2025 and said he must discover methods to win the close matches.

Recent Disappointments

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

• Recent 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) outcome against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Tightly-fought 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 hard to keep pushing through."

Immediate Solution Needed

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

Forthcoming Test

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

The Aussie's chances remain alive 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 winner of the Jimmy Connors group.

Tournament Implications

The second-ranked player'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 regain the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who defeated Auger-Aliassime in his first match on Monday, goes undefeated to retain his ATP Finals title.

"I'll attempt not to focus on it," said Alcaraz. "This will represent a really big 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."