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

Crushing Defeat in Turin

The seventh-ranked player succumbed 7-5 3-6 7-5 after being unable to close out the match, allowing the Italian to remain in the event and now leaving the Australian requiring 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 smallest of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydney native admits he must address the psychological barriers that threaten to cruel his career.

A unsuccessful competitor of all six of his major tournament quarter-final appearances, the twenty-six-year-old was unable to disguise his anguish after experiencing yet another crucial opportunity slipping away 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 must talk to my team and try to sort out these problems because these are issues that can't keep happening."

Professional Turning Point

"Essentially, if I truly desire to be genuine about advancing to the next level in my career, these contests, I must win them. I just can't. It seems as if I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. More than anything, it's reaching a point where psychologically it's killing me."

Describing his emotions as "quite dark", de Minaur lamented a succession of third-set slip-ups in 2025 and said he must find a way to win the tight encounters.

Recent Setbacks

The top-ranked Australian's run of crushing losses include:

• Latest 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
• 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 continue investing everything into these matches," de Minaur commented. "When the result's not there, it's difficult to keep pushing through."

Immediate Solution Needed

"It's something that if it doesn't get sorted, it's going to consume me completely. 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 American world No 6 won 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 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 second-ranked player's victory, having already defeated de Minaur, put Alcaraz a single victory away of securing the year-end top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Even if he loses to Musetti in his final group match, Alcaraz will reclaim the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who beat Auger-Aliassime in his opener on Monday, goes unbeaten to retain his ATP Finals title.

"I'll attempt 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 feeling much better than today."