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The Australian tennis star's aspirations of advancing to the ATP Finals last four are dangling by a slender margin after a heartbreaking defeat in three sets to Lorenzo Musetti.

Crushing Defeat in Turin

The world No 7 went down 7-5 3-6 7-5 after being unable to close out the match, allowing the Italian to remain in the event and now forcing the Australian requiring to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to reach the semi-finals.

Psychological Challenges Threaten Career

But facing Fritz in 48 hours is the smallest 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 grand slam quarter-final appearances, the twenty-six-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 handle a loss like this one," de Minaur said in Turin. "I must talk to my team and try to sort out these issues because these are challenges that can't keep happening."

Professional Turning Point

"I mean, if I truly desire to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these contests, I must win them. I just must not. It seems as if I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. Most importantly, it's reaching a point where psychologically it's killing me."

Characterizing his emotions as "quite dark", de Minaur bemoaned a succession of third-set slip-ups in 2025 and said he must discover methods to win the close matches.

Recent Disappointments

The Australia No 1's run of devastating defeats include:

• 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
• Semi-final 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 said. "Whenever the outcome isn't positive, it's hard to keep persevering."

Immediate Solution Needed

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

Upcoming Challenge

De Minaur and Fritz are tied at five wins each in previous encounters, though the American world No 6 won their meeting in this showpiece event last year.

The Aussie's hopes remain alive after Fritz experienced 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 victor of the Jimmy Connors group.

Championship Consequences

The second-ranked player's win, having already defeated de Minaur, put Alcaraz within one win of securing the season-ending top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Even if he is defeated by Musetti in his last round-robin contest, Alcaraz will reclaim the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who beat Auger-Aliassime in his first match on Monday, goes undefeated to retain his ATP Finals title.

"I will try not to focus on it," commented 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 goals, about performing much better than today."