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The Australian tennis star's aspirations of reaching the ATP Finals last four are hanging by a thread after a gut-wrenching defeat in three sets to Italian opponent 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 stay alive in the tournament and now leaving the Australian requiring to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Psychological Challenges Threaten Career

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

A unsuccessful competitor of all six of his major tournament quarter-final appearances, the 26-year-old was couldn't hide his anguish after suffering yet another high-stakes near miss 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 issues because these are challenges that cannot continue occurring."

Career Crossroads

"I mean, if I truly desire to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these contests, I can't lose them. I just can't. It seems as if I've lost a lot of them this year. More than anything, it's reaching a point where psychologically it's killing me."

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

Recent Disappointments

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

• 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
• 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 said. "Whenever the result's not there, it's hard to keep persevering."

Immediate Solution Needed

"This is an issue that if it doesn't get sorted, it's going to consume me completely. I must get it sorted quickly rather than delayed."

Upcoming Challenge

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in past meetings, though the American world No 6 emerged victorious in their meeting in this showpiece event last year.

The Australian's chances remain flickering after Fritz suffered a 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 defeat to Carlos Alcaraz that ensured the Spaniard would advance to the semi-finals as the winner of the Jimmy Connors group.

Championship Consequences

The second-ranked player's win, having already knocked over de Minaur, put Alcaraz a single victory away of securing the year-end top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Even if he is defeated by Musetti in his final group match, Alcaraz will regain the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who beat Auger-Aliassime in his opener on Monday, goes undefeated to defend his ATP Finals title.

"I'll attempt not to focus on it," said 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 concentrate on my goals, about feeling much better than today."