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The Australian tennis star's aspirations of advancing to the ATP Finals semi-finals are hanging by a thread after a gut-wrenching defeat in three sets to Italian opponent 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, keeping the Italian to remain in the tournament and now leaving the Australian requiring to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to reach the semi-finals.

Psychological Challenges Threaten Career

But facing Fritz in 48 hours is the smallest of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydneysider concedes 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 couldn't hide his distress after experiencing yet another high-stakes near miss 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."

Professional Turning Point

"Essentially, if I really want to be serious about advancing to the next level in my career, these matches, I must win them. I just must not. It seems as if I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's reaching a point where psychologically it's killing me."

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

Recent Setbacks

The top-ranked Australian'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 loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Semi-final 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 keep putting everything into these matches," de Minaur commented. "Whenever the outcome isn't positive, it's difficult to keep pushing through."

Immediate Solution Needed

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

Forthcoming Test

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in previous encounters, though the sixth-ranked American emerged victorious in their meeting in this showpiece event last year.

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

Tournament Implications

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

Even if he is defeated by Musetti in his final group match, Alcaraz will reclaim the world No 1 ranking except if Sinner, who beat Auger-Aliassime in his opener on Monday, goes undefeated to defend his ATP Finals title.

"I'll attempt not to think about it," commented Alcaraz. "This will represent a extremely important match for me. I will try not to let the anxiety play a bad time in the match. I will concentrate on my goals, about performing much better than today."