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The Australian tennis star's aspirations of reaching the ATP Finals last four are dangling by a slender margin after a gut-wrenching three-set loss to Italian opponent Lorenzo Musetti.

Devastating Loss in Turin

The world No 7 went down 7-5 3-6 7-5 after being unable to close out the match, keeping the Italian to stay alive in the tournament 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 two days' time is the least of de Minaur's immediate concerns as the Sydney native concedes he must confront 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 suffering yet another crucial opportunity slipping away 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 resolve these problems because these are challenges 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 contests, I must win them. I just must not. It seems as if I've lost 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 lamented a succession of third-set slip-ups in 2025 and said he must discover methods to win the tight encounters.

Recent Setbacks

The Australia No 1's run of crushing losses include:

• Recent 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) result against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Tightly-fought 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
• Lost in a third-set tiebreaker to Andrey Rublev in the Doha semi-finals

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

Urgent Resolution Needed

"This is an issue 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 American world No 6 won their meeting in this prestigious tournament last year.

The Aussie's chances remain alive after Fritz experienced a 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 defeat 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 win, having already defeated de Minaur, put Alcaraz a single victory away of claiming the season-ending top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

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

"I will try not to think about it," said Alcaraz. "This will represent 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 feeling much better than today."