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The Australian tennis star's aspirations of reaching the ATP Finals last four are hanging by a thread after a gut-wrenching 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 event and now leaving the Australian needing to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Psychological Challenges Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in two days' time is the least of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydneysider admits he must address the mental demons that threaten to cruel his career.

A loser of all six of his grand slam quarter-final appearances, the twenty-six-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'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 problems because these are challenges that can't keep happening."

Professional Turning Point

"I mean, if I really want 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 lost a lot of them this year. More than anything, it's reaching a point where psychologically it's killing me."

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

Recent Disappointments

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

• Latest 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
• 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 continue investing everything into these matches," de Minaur commented. "Whenever the outcome isn't positive, it's difficult to keep pushing through."

Immediate Solution Needed

"This is an issue that if it doesn't get sorted, 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 past meetings, though the American world No 6 emerged victorious in their matchup in this showpiece event last year.

The Australian's hopes remain alive 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 world No 2's win, having already knocked over de Minaur, put Alcaraz within one win of securing the year-end top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Regardless if he loses to Musetti in his last round-robin contest, Alcaraz will reclaim the world No 1 ranking except if 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. "This will represent 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 objectives, about feeling much better than today."