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The Australian tennis star's hopes of reaching the ATP Finals semi-finals are dangling by a slender margin after a heartbreaking defeat in three sets to Italian opponent Lorenzo Musetti.

Crushing Defeat in Turin

The world No 7 succumbed 7-5 3-6 7-5 after failing to serve out the match, keeping the Italian to remain in the tournament and now forcing the Australian needing to decisively defeat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to reach the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in 48 hours is the least of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydney native concedes he must confront the psychological barriers that risk undermining his career.

A loser of all six of his grand slam quarter-final appearances, the 26-year-old was couldn't hide his distress after experiencing yet another crucial opportunity slipping away 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 must talk to my team and try to sort out these issues because these are issues that cannot continue occurring."

Career Crossroads

"Essentially, if I truly desire to be genuine 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 reaching a point where mentally it's destroying me."

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

Recent Setbacks

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

• Recent 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) result against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Tightly-fought US Open quarter-final defeat 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 continue investing everything into these matches," de Minaur said. "Whenever the outcome isn't positive, it's difficult to keep pushing through."

Urgent Resolution Needed

"It's something that if it isn't resolved, it's going to eat me alive. I must get it sorted quickly rather than delayed."

Upcoming Challenge

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in previous encounters, though the sixth-ranked American 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.

Tournament Implications

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

Regardless if he loses to Musetti in his last round-robin contest, 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 think about it," commented Alcaraz. "This will represent a extremely important 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."