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Alex de Minaur's hopes of advancing to the ATP Finals semi-finals are hanging by a thread after a heartbreaking three-set loss to Lorenzo Musetti.

Devastating Loss 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 stay alive in the tournament and now forcing the Australian needing to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to reach the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in 48 hours is the smallest of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydney native concedes he must confront the mental demons that threaten to cruel his career.

A loser of all six of his grand slam quarter-final appearances, the twenty-six-year-old was unable to disguise his distress after suffering yet another high-stakes near miss with his finals destiny in his own hands.

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

Career Crossroads

"Essentially, if I really want to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these contests, I can't lose them. I just can't. It seems as if I've lost a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's reaching a point where mentally it's killing me."

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

Recent Setbacks

The Australia No 1's run of devastating defeats 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 commented. "When the result's not there, it's hard to keep pushing through."

Urgent Resolution Needed

"It's something that if it doesn't get sorted, it's going to consume me completely. I must get it sorted sooner rather than later."

Upcoming Challenge

De Minaur and Fritz are tied at five wins each in previous encounters, though the sixth-ranked American won their meeting in this showpiece event last year.

The Australian's hopes remain flickering after Fritz experienced 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 defeated 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 opener on Monday, goes undefeated to retain his ATP Finals title.

"I will try not to focus on it," said 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."