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The Australian tennis star's hopes of advancing to 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 went down 7-5 3-6 7-5 after failing to serve out the match, allowing the Italian to remain in the event and now forcing the Australian needing to decisively defeat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in 48 hours is the smallest of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydneysider admits he must confront the mental demons that threaten to cruel 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 don't know how many times I can handle a loss like this one," de Minaur said in Turin. "I must talk to my team and try to sort out these problems because these are issues that cannot continue occurring."

Professional Turning Point

"I mean, if I really want to be serious about advancing to the next level in my career, these matches, I can't lose them. I just can't. It feels like 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 bemoaned a succession of final set collapses 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 comprise:

• Recent 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) result against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Closely-contested US Open quarter-final defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Final four in Monte Carlo against Musetti
• Wasted two-set lead against Bublik at the French Open
• Defeated in a third-set tiebreaker to Andrey Rublev in the Doha semi-finals

"I keep putting everything into these matches," de Minaur commented. "When the result's not there, it's hard to keep persevering."

Urgent Resolution Needed

"It's something 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 won their meeting in this prestigious tournament last year.

The Australian's chances remain alive after Fritz experienced a 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 loss to Carlos Alcaraz that guaranteed the Spaniard would progress to the semi-finals as the victor of the Jimmy Connors group.

Tournament Implications

The world No 2's victory, having already defeated de Minaur, put Alcaraz within one win of claiming the season-ending top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Regardless if he is defeated by 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 undefeated to retain his ATP Finals title.

"I will try not to focus on it," said Alcaraz. "It's going to be a really big match for me. I will try not to let the nerves play a negative role in the match. I will think about my goals, about performing much better than today."