🔗 Share this article

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

Crushing Defeat in Turin

The seventh-ranked player succumbed 7-5 3-6 7-5 after failing to serve out the match, allowing the Italian to stay alive 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 facing Fritz in 48 hours is the least of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydney native admits he must address the psychological barriers that risk undermining his career.

A unsuccessful competitor of all six of his major tournament quarter-final appearances, the 26-year-old was unable to disguise his distress after experiencing yet another high-stakes near miss with his tournament fate 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 issues because these are issues that cannot continue occurring."

Career Crossroads

"I mean, if I truly desire to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these matches, I must win them. I just can't. It feels like I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. More than anything, it's getting to a point where psychologically it's destroying me."

Describing his feelings 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 Disappointments

The top-ranked Australian's streak of devastating defeats comprise:

• Latest 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) outcome 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
• 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 commented. "Whenever the result's not there, it's hard to keep pushing through."

Urgent Resolution Needed

"This is an issue that if it isn't resolved, it's going to consume me completely. I need to get it sorted sooner rather than later."

Upcoming Challenge

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in past meetings, though the sixth-ranked American emerged victorious in their meeting in this showpiece event last year.

The Aussie's hopes 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 victory, 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 last round-robin contest, Alcaraz will regain the world No 1 ranking except if Sinner, who defeated Auger-Aliassime in his opener on Monday, goes undefeated to defend his ATP Finals title.

"I'll attempt not to focus on it," said Alcaraz. "This will represent a really big match for me. I will try not to let the nerves play a bad time in the match. I will think about my objectives, about performing much better than today."