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Alex de Minaur's hopes of reaching the ATP Finals semi-finals are dangling by a slender margin after a heartbreaking three-set loss to Lorenzo Musetti.

Crushing Defeat in Turin

The world No 7 went down 7-5 3-6 7-5 after failing to serve out the match, keeping the Italian to stay alive in the event and now forcing the Australian requiring to decisively defeat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But facing Fritz in two days' time 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 unsuccessful competitor of all six of his grand slam quarter-final appearances, the 26-year-old was couldn't hide his distress after suffering yet another high-stakes near miss 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 stated in Turin. "I must talk to my team and try to sort out these problems because these are challenges that cannot continue occurring."

Career Crossroads

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

Describing his emotions as "quite dark", de Minaur bemoaned a series of final set collapses in 2025 and said he must find a way to win the close matches.

Recent Disappointments

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

• Latest 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) outcome 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
• Lost 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 outcome isn't positive, it's hard to keep pushing through."

Urgent Resolution Needed

"It's something that if it isn't resolved, it's going to eat me alive. I need to get it sorted sooner rather than later."

Upcoming Challenge

De Minaur and Fritz are tied at five wins each in past meetings, though the sixth-ranked American won their matchup in this showpiece event last year.

The Aussie's chances remain flickering after Fritz experienced a 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 defeat to Carlos Alcaraz that guaranteed the Spaniard would advance 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 a single victory away of claiming the year-end 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 except if 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," said Alcaraz. "It's going to be a really big match for me. I will try not to let the anxiety play a bad time in the match. I will think about my goals, about performing much better than today."