Alex de Minaur’s hopes of reaching the ATP Finals last four are hanging by a thread after a heartbreaking three-set loss to Lorenzo Musetti.

The world No 7 went down 7-5 3-6 7-5 after failing to serve out the match, keeping the Italian in the event and now leaving the Australian needing to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to reach the semi-finals.

But facing Fritz in two days’ time is the least of de Minaur’s immediate concerns as the Sydneysider concedes he must address the mental demons that threaten to cruel his career.

A loser 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 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 issues that can’t keep happening.

“I mean, if I really want to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these matches, I can’t lose them. I just can’t. It feels like I’ve lost a lot of them this year. More than anything, it’s getting to a point where mentally it’s killing me.”

Describing his feelings as “quite dark”, de Minaur lamented a succession of third-set slip-ups in 2025 and said he must find a way to win the tight encounters.

The Australia No 1’s run of crushing losses include a recent 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) result against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters, a closely-contested US Open quarter-final defeat to Felix Auger-Aliassime and a semi-final in Monte Carlo against Musetti.

De Minaur also squandered a two-set lead against Bublik at the French Open and a lost in a third-set tiebreaker to Andrey Rublev in the Doha semi-finals.

“I keep putting everything into these matches,” de Minaur said. “When the result’s not there, it’s hard to keep pushing through.

“It’s something that if it doesn’t get sorted, it’s going to eat me alive. I need to get it sorted sooner rather than later.”

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in previous encounters, though the American world No 6 won their meeting in this showpiece event last year.

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

Carlos Alcaraz closes in on the world No 1 ranking in a win over Taylor Fritz at the ATP Finals in Turin. Photograph: Giorgio Maiozzi/IPA Sport/ipa-agency.net/Shutterstock

The world No 2’s victory, having already knocked over de Minaur, put Alcaraz within one win of securing the season-ending top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Even if he loses to 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 will try not to think about it,” said Alcaraz. “It’s going to be 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 goals, about feeling much better than today.”