Alex de Minaur contrived to lose his second ATP Finals match to Lorenzo Musetti, and his participation in the tournament is now hanging by a thread.
De Minaur will have to overcome Taylor Fritz to stand any chance of progressing to the semifinals, with the American eyeing up a last-four spot of his own.
Before the match, De Minaur spoke about his saddest moment of the year, and once again, he looked devastated as he trudged off the court after losing to Musetti.
De Minaur came into the tournament confident, but this match was always going to be tough given that the crowd were clearly cheering on one of their own in Musetti.
It’s never ideal when the crowd is dead against you, and after the match, De Minaur was asked about their loyalties and whether they impacted the result.
Alex de Minaur delivers verdict on ATP Finals crowd in Turin
There is a real issue brewing for De Minaur when it comes to overcoming top players, and once again, he failed to get past one at the ATP Finals.
De Minaur enjoyed good moments at the Paris Masters before losing to Alexander Bublik in the quarterfinal to end his Masters 1000 campaign.
After losing to Musetti for a second successive defeat at the ATP Finals, De Minaur has shared whether or not he thinks the crowd played a part.
He said in his press conference: “Nothing from them, yeah, it was on my racket. It wasn’t the crowd’s fault. It was mine.”
De Minaur was visibly distressed in his press conference, looking anything but his usual jovial and bubbly self as he answered the media’s questions.
On his frustration, he said: “I think it’s probably a good thing I don’t express my feelings right now because they’re quite dark.
“Yeah, 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, so…I mean, yeah, don’t feel great.”
How Alex de Minaur plans to deal with losing to Lorenzo Musetti
De Minaur’s fiancée, Katie Boulter, flew into Turin for this match and will once again be in his box when he plays Fritz tomorrow.
He will need some serious support to help him through this rough patch, and it will be a good thing for him to have his family and his team around him.
It would appear that De Minaur is now at breaking point with his game, issuing a really brutal response on his own next steps if he’s to truly kick on in his career.
He said: “Just have a talk to my team and try to sort out these issues because these are issues that can’t keep happening. I mean, 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 mean, it feels like I’ve lost a lot of them this year. I mean, more than anything, it’s getting to a point where mentally it’s killing me.”
I just want to win these matches. I mean, I don’t know. It’s something that if it doesn’t get sorted, it’s going to eat me alive.
“I need to get it sorted sooner rather than later. Yeah, I don’t know how many times I can deal with a loss like this one.”
De Minaur now has to focus on beating Fritz comfortably and hoping that Alcaraz can do him a favour by beating Musetti in a similar fashion if his stay in Turin isn’t to prove short-lived.
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