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The Australian tennis star's hopes of reaching the ATP Finals semi-finals are hanging by a thread after a gut-wrenching three-set loss to Lorenzo Musetti.

Crushing Defeat in Turin

The world No 7 went down 7-5 3-6 7-5 after failing to serve out the match, allowing the Italian to stay alive in the tournament and now forcing the Australian requiring to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to reach the semi-finals.

Psychological Challenges Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in 48 hours is the smallest of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydneysider concedes he must confront the mental demons that risk undermining his career.

A loser of all six of his major tournament quarter-final appearances, the 26-year-old was couldn't hide 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 deal with a loss like this one," de Minaur said in Turin. "I just have to talk to my team and try to resolve these issues because these are issues that can't keep happening."

Professional Turning Point

"Essentially, if I really want to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these matches, I can't lose them. I just can't. It feels like I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's getting to a point where mentally it's killing me."

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

Recent Setbacks

The Australia No 1's streak of devastating defeats include:

• 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
• Final four 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 continue investing everything into these matches," de Minaur said. "Whenever the result's not there, 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 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 won their meeting in this showpiece event last year.

The Australian's hopes remain alive after Fritz suffered a 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 defeat to Carlos Alcaraz that ensured 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 knocked over de Minaur, put Alcaraz within one win of securing the year-end top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Regardless if he is defeated by Musetti in his last round-robin contest, Alcaraz will reclaim the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who beat Auger-Aliassime in his opener on Monday, goes unbeaten to retain his ATP Finals title.

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