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Alex de Minaur's hopes of reaching the ATP Finals last four are hanging by a thread after a heartbreaking 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, keeping the Italian to remain in the tournament and now forcing the Australian requiring to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in 48 hours is the smallest of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydney native admits he must address the mental demons that risk undermining his career.

A loser of all six of his grand slam quarter-final appearances, the 26-year-old was unable to disguise his anguish after suffering yet another crucial opportunity slipping away 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 issues because these are issues that cannot continue occurring."

Professional Turning Point

"Essentially, if I truly desire to be serious about advancing to the next level in my career, these contests, I must win them. I just must not. It seems as if I've lost a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's getting to a point where psychologically it's killing me."

Describing his feelings as "quite dark", de Minaur bemoaned a succession of final set collapses in 2025 and said he must find a way to win the tight encounters.

Recent Disappointments

The top-ranked Australian'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 defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Semi-final in Monte Carlo against Musetti
• Squandered two-set lead against Bublik at the French Open
• Defeated in a third-set tiebreaker to Andrey Rublev in the Doha semi-finals

"I keep putting everything into these matches," de Minaur commented. "Whenever the result's not there, it's difficult to keep persevering."

Urgent Resolution Needed

"It's something that if it isn't resolved, 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 previous encounters, though the American world No 6 won their meeting in this prestigious tournament last year.

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

Tournament Implications

The world No 2's win, having already defeated de Minaur, put Alcaraz within one win of securing the season-ending top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Even if he loses to Musetti in his final group match, Alcaraz will regain 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 will try not to think about it," said 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 think about my objectives, about performing much better than today."