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Alex de Minaur's hopes of advancing to the ATP Finals semi-finals are dangling by a slender margin after a gut-wrenching defeat in three sets to Italian opponent Lorenzo Musetti.

Devastating Loss in Turin

The seventh-ranked player 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 requiring to decisively defeat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to reach the semi-finals.

Psychological Challenges Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in 48 hours is the least of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydneysider admits he must confront the psychological barriers that risk undermining his career.

A loser of all six of his grand slam quarter-final appearances, the twenty-six-year-old was couldn't hide his anguish 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 cannot continue occurring."

Professional Turning Point

"I mean, if I truly desire 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. More than anything, it's reaching a point where mentally it's killing me."

Characterizing his feelings as "quite dark", 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 run of crushing losses include:

• Recent 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) result 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 keep putting everything into these matches," de Minaur said. "Whenever the outcome isn't positive, 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 quickly rather than delayed."

Upcoming Challenge

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in past meetings, though the sixth-ranked American emerged victorious in their matchup in this showpiece event last year.

The Aussie's chances remain flickering after Fritz suffered a 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 loss to Carlos Alcaraz that ensured the Spaniard would progress to the semi-finals as the winner of the Jimmy Connors group.

Championship Consequences

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

Even if he is defeated by Musetti in his last round-robin contest, Alcaraz will reclaim the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who defeated Auger-Aliassime in his first match on Monday, goes undefeated to defend his ATP Finals title.

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