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

Crushing Defeat in Turin

The seventh-ranked player succumbed 7-5 3-6 7-5 after failing to serve out the match, keeping the Italian to remain in the event and now leaving the Australian requiring to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in 48 hours is the least 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 unable to disguise his distress after suffering 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 must talk to my team and try to resolve these issues because these are challenges that can't keep happening."

Professional Turning Point

"I mean, if I truly desire to be serious about advancing to the next level in my career, these contests, I can't lose them. I just must not. It seems as if I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. More than anything, it's reaching a point where psychologically it's killing me."

Describing his emotions as "quite dark", de Minaur bemoaned a succession of final set collapses in 2025 and said he must discover methods to win the close matches.

Recent Setbacks

The top-ranked Australian's streak 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 loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Final four 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 keep putting everything into these matches," de Minaur commented. "When the result's not there, it's hard to keep pushing through."

Immediate Solution Needed

"It's something that if it doesn't get sorted, it's going to eat me alive. 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 American world No 6 emerged victorious in 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 progress to the semi-finals as the victor of the Jimmy Connors group.

Championship Consequences

The second-ranked player's victory, 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 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. "This will represent a really big 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."