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The Australian tennis star's aspirations of reaching the ATP Finals semi-finals are dangling by a slender margin after a gut-wrenching defeat in three sets to Italian opponent 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 stay alive in the event and now leaving the Australian needing to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to reach the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in two days' time is the least of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydneysider concedes he must confront 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 couldn't hide his anguish after experiencing yet another high-stakes near miss with his tournament fate in his own hands.

"I'm uncertain how many times I can deal with a loss like this one," de Minaur said in Turin. "I just have to talk to my team and try to resolve these problems because these are challenges that can't keep happening."

Career Crossroads

"I mean, if I truly desire to be genuine about taking the next step in my career, these matches, I must win them. I just can't. It feels like I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. More than anything, it's getting to a point where mentally it's killing me."

Characterizing his emotions as "quite dark", de Minaur bemoaned a series 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 streak of crushing losses include:

• Recent 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) outcome 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
• Lost 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 difficult to keep pushing through."

Immediate Solution Needed

"It's something that if it isn't resolved, 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 previous encounters, though the sixth-ranked American won their matchup in this prestigious tournament last year.

The Australian's hopes remain flickering 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 winner of the Jimmy Connors group.

Tournament Implications

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

Regardless if he loses to Musetti in his final group match, 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 focus on it," said Alcaraz. "It's going to be a extremely important match for me. I will try not to let the anxiety play a negative role in the match. I will think about my objectives, about performing much better than today."