'Mentally it's killing me': Candid de Minaur reflects on another brutal blow; extends horror streak

(Getty/Nicolò Campo)

In what will surely go down as one of his most crushing defeats to date, Alex de Minaur has succumbed to a thriller against Lorenzo Musetti at the ATP Finals, despite serving for the match.

Both players held serve relatively comfortably in the first set, until the 11th game when the Italian home crowd spurred on their countryman to grab the break and soon after a one-set advantage.

As Musetti painted the lines on multiple occasions in the first set, it was only a matter of time before a dip was going to occur. As was the case, 'Demon' forced a deciding set as he silenced the Inalpi Arena crowd.

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Up 5-3 in the third set, de Minaur conceded four straight games to hand his opponent a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 win.

"I think it's probably a good thing I don't express my feelings right now because they're quite dark," an extremely deflated de Minaur told reporters. "To be honest, it just feels like it's been that type of year where I've had what feels like a whole lot of matches that should have gone my way and just somehow don't."

He later added: "If I really want to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these matches, I can't lose 'em. I just can't... I don't know how many times I can deal with a loss like this one."

There was a 15-minute delay at the start of set three after a fan required urgent medical attention, with an update pending on the spectators’ condition.

Although de Minaur entered the match with an unfavourable 1-3 head-to-head against Musetti, he defeated the Italian in their only hard court meeting at the 2022 Australian Open.

The loss means the Aussie star is still in search of his maiden triumph at the ATP Finals, having lost all three group stage matches last year on top of his opening round robin defeat to Carlos Alcaraz on Monday morning AEDT.

However, de Minaur has the opportunity to qualify for the semi-finals in Turin with a win against former US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz, albeit he must win in straight sets and hope Alcaraz beats Musetti in the other fixture.

The pair met 12 months ago at the same tournament, with the American overturning a one-set deficit.

De Minaur, 26, has now lost 16 consecutive matches against top 10 players, excluding the Laver Cup.

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