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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 gut-wrenching defeat in three sets to Lorenzo Musetti.

Crushing Defeat 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 remain in the event and now leaving the Australian requiring to decisively defeat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in two days' time is the smallest of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydneysider admits he must address the psychological barriers that threaten to cruel his career.

A unsuccessful competitor 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 tournament fate in his own hands.

"I'm uncertain 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 resolve these issues because these are issues that cannot continue occurring."

Professional Turning Point

"I mean, if I truly desire to be genuine about taking the next step in my career, these contests, I can't lose them. I just can't. It seems as if I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's reaching a point where mentally it's destroying me."

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

Recent Setbacks

The Australia No 1's streak of crushing losses comprise:

• 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
• Semi-final 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 said. "When the outcome isn't positive, it's difficult to keep pushing through."

Urgent Resolution Needed

"This is an issue that if it doesn't get sorted, it's going to consume me completely. I must get it sorted quickly rather than delayed."

Upcoming Challenge

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

The Australian's hopes remain alive after Fritz experienced 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.

Tournament Implications

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

Regardless if he loses to Musetti in his final group match, Alcaraz will reclaim the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who defeated Auger-Aliassime in his opener on Monday, goes unbeaten to defend 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 bad time in the match. I will concentrate on my objectives, about performing much better than today."