Alex de Minaur\u2019s hopes of reaching the ATP Finals last four are hanging by a thread after a heartbreaking three-set loss to Lorenzo Musetti.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
But facing Fritz in two days\u2019 time is the least of de Minaur\u2019s immediate concerns as the Sydneysider concedes he must address the mental demons that threaten to cruel his career.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how many times I can deal with a loss like this one,\u201d de Minaur said in Turin. \u201cI just have to talk to my team and try to sort out these issues because these are issues that can\u2019t keep happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, if I really want to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these matches, I can\u2019t lose them. I just can\u2019t. It feels like I\u2019ve lost a lot of them this year. More than anything, it\u2019s getting to a point where mentally it\u2019s killing me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Describing his feelings as \u201cquite dark\u201d, de Minaur lamented a succession of third-set slip-ups in 2025 and said he must find a way to win the tight encounters.<\/p>\n
The Australia No 1\u2019s 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<\/a> and a semi-final in Monte Carlo against Musetti.<\/p>\n De Minaur also squandered a two-set lead against Bublik at the French Open<\/a> and a lost in a third-set tiebreaker to Andrey Rublev in the Doha semi-finals.<\/p>\n \u201cI keep putting everything into these matches,\u201d de Minaur said. \u201cWhen the result\u2019s not there, it\u2019s hard to keep pushing through.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that if it doesn\u2019t get sorted, it\u2019s going to eat me alive. I need to get it sorted sooner rather than later.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Australia Sport<\/p>\n Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n The Australian\u2019s hopes remain flickering after Fritz suffered a 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 6-3 loss to Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> that ensured the Spaniard would advance to the semi-finals as the winner of the Jimmy Connors group.<\/p>\n 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<\/p>\n The world No 2\u2019s victory, having already knocked over de Minaur<\/a>, put Alcaraz within one win of securing the season-ending top ranking from Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n