Alex de Minaur remains alive at the season-ending ATP Finals, but only just after a three-set loss to Lorenzo Musetti.

Aussie number one de Minaur went down 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in 2 hours 48 minutes, keeping the Italian in the event and now leaving the 26-year-old Sydneysider needing to convincingly beat Taylor Fritz in his third and final group match to reach the semi-finals.

The pair are 5-5 in previous encounters, though Fritz won their meeting in this tournament last year.

Defeat for the world number seven means Carlos Alcaraz’s place in the last four is on hold, despite the Spaniard defeating Fritz 6-7 (2/7), 7-5, 6-3 in Turin earlier to lead the Jimmy Connors group.

The world number two also needed 2 hours 48 minutes to see off the American and back up his first-round victory over de Minaur.

The crucial break in De Minaur’s opening set, which lasted 51 minutes, came in the 11th game when he failed to survive a fourth break point.

The Aussie, who lost all three of his matches on his ATP Finals debut last year, saved three more in the opening game of the second set and pounced in the eighth game, breaking to 15 before serving it out.

De Minaur, in his second straight crack at the end-of-season men’s championship featuring the world’s best, immediately broke to start the third.

But when serving for the match at 5-4 he came up short, and again when trying to take it to a tiebreaker. It handed the Italian world number nine, drafted in as replacement for the injured Novak Djokovic, a thrilling victory.

A win over Musetti in his final group game will confirm Alcaraz as the year-end number one.

Only if he doesn’t win another match and Jannik Sinner, who beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in his opener on Monday, goes undefeated to defend his title, will the Italian stay number one.

Fritz, who lost to Sinner in the final last year, seemed set to spring a surprise when he blasted Alcaraz away 7-2 in a first set tiebreak.

The American also had break points in the second set as he pushed Alcaraz much harder than de Minaur had done, but he failed to take them.

Once he was broken for 4-2 down in the final set it was all over.

AAP