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Alex de Minaur's hopes of advancing to the ATP Finals last four are dangling by a slender margin after a gut-wrenching three-set loss to Italian opponent 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, keeping the Italian to remain in the tournament and now leaving 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 48 hours is the least of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydneysider admits he must address the mental demons that risk undermining his career.

A unsuccessful competitor of all six of his grand slam quarter-final appearances, the 26-year-old was couldn't hide his anguish after experiencing yet another crucial opportunity slipping away with his finals destiny in his own hands.

"I don't know 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 resolve these issues because these are challenges that cannot continue occurring."

Career Crossroads

"Essentially, if I really want to be serious about advancing to the next level in my career, these contests, I can't lose them. I just can't. It feels like I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. More than anything, it's reaching a point where mentally it's killing me."

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

Recent Disappointments

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

• Latest 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) result against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Tightly-fought US Open quarter-final loss 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 said. "Whenever the result's not there, it's hard to keep pushing through."

Immediate Solution Needed

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

Upcoming Challenge

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in past meetings, though the sixth-ranked American won their matchup in this showpiece event last year.

The Australian's chances remain flickering after Fritz experienced a 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 defeat to Carlos Alcaraz that guaranteed the Spaniard would progress 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 is defeated by Musetti in his final group match, Alcaraz will reclaim the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who beat 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 nerves play a bad time in the match. I will concentrate on my objectives, about feeling much better than today."