🔗 Share this article

The Australian tennis star's aspirations of advancing to the ATP Finals semi-finals 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, allowing the Italian to remain in the tournament and now forcing the Australian requiring to decisively defeat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to reach the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But facing Fritz in two days' time is the smallest of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydney native 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 unable to disguise his anguish after suffering yet another high-stakes near miss with his tournament fate 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 really want to be serious about advancing to the next level in my career, these matches, 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 destroying me."

Describing his feelings as "quite dark", de Minaur bemoaned a succession of third-set slip-ups in 2025 and said he must find a way to win the close matches.

Recent Disappointments

The top-ranked Australian's run 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
• Squandered two-set lead against Bublik at the French Open
• Defeated in a third-set tiebreaker to Andrey Rublev in the Doha semi-finals

"I continue investing 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 doesn't get sorted, it's going to consume me completely. I need to get it sorted quickly rather than delayed."

Forthcoming Test

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in past meetings, though the sixth-ranked American emerged victorious in their matchup in this showpiece event last year.

The Aussie's chances remain flickering after Fritz suffered 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.

Championship Consequences

The world No 2's win, having already knocked over de Minaur, put Alcaraz a single victory away of claiming the year-end top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Regardless if he loses to Musetti in his final group match, Alcaraz will reclaim the world No 1 ranking except if Sinner, who defeated Auger-Aliassime in his first match on Monday, goes undefeated to retain his ATP Finals title.

"I will try not to think about it," commented Alcaraz. "This will represent a really big match for me. I will try not to let the nerves play a bad time in the match. I will think about my objectives, about performing much better than today."