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The Australian tennis star's aspirations of advancing to the ATP Finals semi-finals are dangling by a slender margin after a heartbreaking defeat in three sets to Italian opponent Lorenzo Musetti.

Devastating Loss in Turin

The world No 7 succumbed 7-5 3-6 7-5 after being unable to close out the match, keeping 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 facing Fritz in 48 hours is the least of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydney native admits he must address the psychological barriers 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 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 said in Turin. "I just have to talk to my team and try to sort out these problems because these are challenges that can't keep happening."

Career Crossroads

"I mean, 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 must not. It feels like I've lost a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's reaching a point where mentally it's killing me."

Describing 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 Setbacks

The top-ranked Australian's streak of crushing losses include:

• Latest 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. "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 need to get it sorted sooner rather than later."

Forthcoming Test

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

The Australian'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 defeated de Minaur, put Alcaraz a single victory away of claiming the season-ending top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Even 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 first match on Monday, goes undefeated to retain his ATP Finals title.

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