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The Australian tennis star's hopes of reaching the ATP Finals semi-finals are hanging by a thread after a heartbreaking defeat in three sets to Italian opponent Lorenzo Musetti.

Devastating Loss in Turin

The seventh-ranked player 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 reach the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in two days' time is the least of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydney native admits he must confront the psychological barriers that threaten to cruel his career.

A loser 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 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 problems because these are challenges 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 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 getting to a point where psychologically it's killing me."

Characterizing his emotions as "very bleak", de Minaur bemoaned a succession of third-set slip-ups in 2025 and said he must discover methods to win the close matches.

Recent Disappointments

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
• 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 continue investing 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 isn't resolved, it's going to eat me alive. I need to 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 hopes remain flickering after Fritz suffered a 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 defeat 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 win, having already defeated 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 last round-robin contest, Alcaraz will regain the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who defeated Auger-Aliassime in his opener on Monday, goes undefeated to retain his ATP Finals title.

"I will try not to think about it," commented Alcaraz. "It's going to be a really big match for me. I will try not to let the nerves play a negative role in the match. I will concentrate on my goals, about feeling much better than today."