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The Australian tennis star's aspirations of advancing to the ATP Finals semi-finals are hanging by a thread after a gut-wrenching three-set loss to Italian opponent Lorenzo Musetti.

Crushing Defeat in Turin

The world No 7 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 forcing the Australian requiring to decisively defeat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Psychological Challenges Threaten Career

But facing Fritz in two days' time is the smallest of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydney native admits he must confront the mental demons that threaten to cruel his career.

A loser of all six of his major tournament quarter-final appearances, the 26-year-old was unable to disguise 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 deal with a loss like this one," de Minaur stated in Turin. "I just have to talk to my team and try to sort out these problems because these are issues that can't keep happening."

Professional Turning Point

"I mean, if I really want to be genuine about taking the next step in my career, these contests, I can't lose them. I just can't. It feels like I've lost a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's reaching a point where psychologically it's destroying me."

Describing his feelings as "very bleak", de Minaur lamented a series of third-set slip-ups in 2025 and said he must discover methods to win the close matches.

Recent Disappointments

The top-ranked Australian's run of devastating defeats 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. "When the result's not there, it's difficult to keep persevering."

Urgent Resolution 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."

Forthcoming Test

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in previous encounters, though the sixth-ranked American won their matchup in this prestigious tournament last year.

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

Tournament Implications

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

Regardless if he is defeated by 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 unbeaten to defend 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 nerves play a bad time in the match. I will think about my goals, about performing much better than today."