Alex de Minaur's chances of reaching the ATP Finals semi-finals are hanging by a thread after a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 defeat to Lorenzo Musetti in Turin. The world No 7 failed to serve out the match, leaving his hopes reliant on a convincing win over Taylor Fritz in his final group match.
De Minaur, who has lost all six of his grand slam quarter-final appearances, expressed deep frustration after another high-stakes near miss. 'I don't know how many times I can deal with a loss like this one,' he said. 'These are issues that can’t keep happening. If I really want to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these matches, I can’t lose them.'
The Australian described his feelings as 'quite dark' and lamented a pattern of third-set collapses in 2025, including losses to Alexander Bublik, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Musetti himself. 'It’s getting to a point where mentally it’s killing me,' de Minaur added.
De Minaur and Fritz are tied 5-5 in head-to-head matches, but Fritz won their encounter at last year's ATP Finals. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz defeated Fritz 6-7 (2-7), 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the semi-finals and put himself within one win of securing the year-end world No 1 ranking.
