🔗 Share this article

The Australian tennis star's hopes of reaching the ATP Finals semi-finals are hanging by a thread after a heartbreaking defeat in three sets to Lorenzo Musetti.

Devastating Loss in Turin

The world No 7 went down 7-5 3-6 7-5 after being unable to close out the match, keeping the Italian to stay alive in the tournament and now leaving the Australian needing to decisively defeat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to reach the semi-finals.

Psychological Challenges Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in 48 hours is the least of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydney native admits he must address the psychological barriers that risk undermining his career.

A loser of all six of his major tournament quarter-final appearances, the 26-year-old was couldn't hide his distress after experiencing 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 resolve these problems because these are challenges that cannot continue occurring."

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 been defeated in a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's reaching a point where mentally it's killing me."

Describing his emotions as "quite dark", de Minaur lamented a succession of final set collapses in 2025 and said he must discover methods to win the close matches.

Recent Setbacks

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 continue investing everything into these matches," de Minaur said. "Whenever the result's not there, it's hard to keep pushing through."

Urgent Resolution Needed

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

Forthcoming Test

De Minaur and Fritz are tied at five wins each in previous encounters, though the sixth-ranked American won their matchup 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 progress to the semi-finals as the winner of the Jimmy Connors group.

Championship Consequences

The second-ranked player's win, having already knocked over de Minaur, put Alcaraz within one win of securing the year-end top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Even 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 first match on Monday, goes unbeaten to retain his ATP Finals title.

"I will try not to think about it," said Alcaraz. "This will represent a extremely important match for me. I will try not to let the anxiety play a negative role in the match. I will concentrate on my objectives, about performing much better than today."