{'Mentally it's killing me': Alex de Minaur on brink of ATP Finals exit after third-set collapse

The Australian tennis star's aspirations of reaching the ATP Finals semi-finals are dangling by a slender margin after a gut-wrenching defeat in three sets to Lorenzo Musetti.

Crushing Defeat in Turin

The world No 7 went down 7-5 3-6 7-5 after failing to serve out the match, allowing the Italian to stay alive in the tournament and now leaving the Australian requiring to decisively defeat Taylor Fritz in his last group match to reach the semi-finals.

Psychological Challenges Threaten Career

But facing Fritz in 48 hours is the smallest of de Minaur's pressing worries as the Sydneysider concedes he must confront the mental demons that threaten to cruel his career.

A unsuccessful competitor of all six of his grand slam quarter-final appearances, the twenty-six-year-old was couldn't hide his anguish after experiencing yet another high-stakes near miss with his finals destiny 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 just have to talk to my team and try to resolve these issues because these are issues that cannot continue occurring."

Career Crossroads

"Essentially, if I really want to be genuine about advancing to the next level in my career, these matches, I must win them. I just can't. It seems as if I've been defeated in a lot of them this year. More than anything, it's reaching a point where mentally it's killing me."

Describing his emotions 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 close matches.

Recent Disappointments

The Australia No 1's streak of devastating defeats comprise:

• Latest 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7-5) outcome against Alexander Bublik at the Paris Masters
• Tightly-fought US Open quarter-final loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Final four in Monte Carlo against Musetti
• Wasted two-set lead against Bublik at the French Open
• Lost 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 outcome isn't positive, it's hard to keep pushing through."

Immediate Solution Needed

"This is an issue that if it isn't resolved, it's going to eat me alive. I need to get it sorted sooner rather than later."

Forthcoming Test

De Minaur and Fritz are 5-5 in previous encounters, though the sixth-ranked American won their meeting in this showpiece event last year.

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

Tournament Implications

The world No 2's victory, having already defeated de Minaur, put Alcaraz within one win of securing the year-end top ranking from Jannik Sinner.

Regardless if he loses to Musetti in his last round-robin contest, Alcaraz will regain the world No 1 ranking unless Sinner, who defeated Auger-Aliassime in his first match on Monday, goes undefeated to retain his ATP Finals title.

"I'll attempt not to focus on it," said Alcaraz. "It's going to be a extremely important match for me. I will try not to let the nerves play a bad time in the match. I will think about my objectives, about feeling much better than today."