🔗 Share this article

Alex de Minaur's hopes 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 seventh-ranked player succumbed 7-5 3-6 7-5 after being unable to close out the match, allowing the Italian to stay alive in the tournament and now leaving the Australian requiring to decisively defeat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to reach the semi-finals.

Mental Demons Threaten Career

But confronting Fritz in 48 hours is the smallest of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydney native concedes he must address the psychological barriers that threaten to cruel his career.

A loser of all six of his major tournament quarter-final appearances, the twenty-six-year-old was unable to disguise his distress after experiencing yet another crucial opportunity slipping away 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 said in Turin. "I just have to talk to my team and try to sort out these problems because these are challenges that cannot continue occurring."

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 seems as if I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. More than anything, it's getting to a point where psychologically it's killing me."

Characterizing his feelings as "quite dark", de Minaur lamented a series of final set collapses in 2025 and said he must find a way to win the close matches.

Recent Setbacks

The top-ranked Australian's streak of crushing losses comprise:

• Latest 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) result against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Tightly-fought US Open quarter-final loss 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 commented. "Whenever the outcome isn't positive, it's difficult to keep pushing through."

Urgent Resolution Needed

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

Forthcoming Test

De Minaur and Fritz are tied at five wins each in past meetings, though the sixth-ranked American won their meeting in this prestigious tournament last year.

The Australian'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 winner of the Jimmy Connors group.

Tournament Implications

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

Even if he loses to Musetti in his last round-robin contest, Alcaraz will regain 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'll attempt not to focus on it," said Alcaraz. "This will represent a extremely important 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 feeling much better than today."