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Alex de Minaur's hopes of reaching the ATP Finals last four are dangling by a slender margin after a gut-wrenching defeat in three sets 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, keeping the Italian to remain in the event and now leaving the Australian requiring to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Psychological Challenges Threaten Career

But facing Fritz in 48 hours is the least of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydney native admits he must confront the mental demons that risk undermining his career.

A unsuccessful competitor 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 don't know how many times I can handle a loss like this one," de Minaur said in Turin. "I must talk to my team and try to sort out these problems because these are issues that cannot continue occurring."

Career Crossroads

"I mean, if I truly desire to be genuine about advancing to the next level in my career, these matches, I can't lose them. I just can't. It feels like I've lost a lot of them this year. More than anything, it's getting to a point where mentally it's destroying me."

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

Recent Disappointments

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

• Latest 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) result against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Closely-contested US Open quarter-final defeat 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 persevering."

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."

Upcoming Challenge

De Minaur and Fritz are tied at five wins each in previous encounters, though the American world No 6 won their meeting in this showpiece event last year.

The Australian's chances remain flickering 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 victor of the Jimmy Connors group.

Tournament Implications

The second-ranked player's win, having already defeated de Minaur, put Alcaraz a single victory away of claiming the year-end top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Regardless if he loses to 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 think about it," commented Alcaraz. "It's going to be a extremely important match for me. I will try not to let the anxiety play a negative role in the match. I will concentrate on my objectives, about performing much better than today."