Alex de Minaur speaks after beating Taylor Fritz as he admits to suffering ‘heartbreak’ recently

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Alex de Minaur bounced back brilliantly in Turin to keep his semifinal hopes alive.

Seemingly down and out after De Minaur lost to Musetti, the Aussie found a second wind before his final group stage game.

Needing a straight-sets win over the American to have a chance of progressing, De Minaur delivered, defeating Taylor Fritz, 7-6, 6-3.

De Minaur will now turn his attention to the final game of the Jimmy Connors Group, where a win for Carlos Alcaraz against Lorenzo Musetti will see him through to the semifinals.

When told how close he is to qualifying, De Minaur said he didn’t trust the interviewer’s maths!

Alex de Minaur says he was prepared to ‘leave everything out there’ to pick up first ATP Finals win

During his on-court interview, a relieved De Minaur reflected on the difficulties he’s faced at the ATP Finals.

“I’ve dealt with a fair bit of heartbreak recently; it was good to finally get a win here in Turin,” he said.

“I’ve worked really hard, so it was good to get some positive feedback or a positive reward for the hard work, so very happy with the performance today.”

The Aussie was then asked how he managed to bounce back from his heartbreaking defeat to Musetti earlier in the week.

“Yeah, look, it was a tough pill to swallow,” admitted De Minaur.

“I didn’t do much, I didn’t overthink today, I went out there, committed to what I needed to do.

“There were some tough moments out there, but ultimately I continued to back myself, whether it worked or it didn’t, I was going to leave everything out there today, and I ended up with a really good match from the start to the end.”

De Minaur was then told that he will qualify for the semifinals if Alcaraz beats Musetti later in the evening.

“I don’t trust you right now!” he said.

“I’m going to have to see what happens, but ultimately, I kind of made my peace and was able to come today on the court with that sort of mindset.

Group Jimmy Connors standings

“Enough worrying about circumstances or the what-ifs, and just focused on what I needed to do, and it’s going to be a little bit more of that tonight, whatever happens, happens.

“I put my best foot forward and I’m pleased with that.”

After taking a few moments to gather his thoughts, De Minaur conducted another interview, this time with the Sky Sports crew.

The Aussie opened up again about the mental challenges he’s been battling with recently.

“A couple of days ago, I was in a pretty dark place. It was a tough pill to swallow. So more than anything, I feel proud of my efforts, not just for coming out and winning, but also the mindset,” said De Minaur.

“It has gotten to the point where it just feels like there is a lot of things that go against me, not only in the game a couple of days ago, but it’s felt like there’s been a lot of matches recently – where I don’t want to call it luck – but something has been in the air that hasn’t allowed me to win these matches.”

Failing to convert his first match point against Fritz, De Minaur was worried that the luck was against him once more.

“To have that break point, match point, where I played an unbelievable point and it did not go my way, I was like here we go again,” he said.

“But I was proud. I stayed aggressive. 0-30, I backed myself and hit a great out-wide serve, then served and volleyed. I just backed myself from the first point to the last.”

Battling to victory against Fritz, De Minaur picked up his maiden ATP Finals win.

Alex de Minaur’s ATP Finals record

The 26-year-old has now played six matches in Turin, winning one and losing five.

A 1-5 record still isn’t great, but De Minaur may now have an opportunity to double his tally, should Alcaraz do him a favor later this evening.

If De Minaur were to advance, he’d take on the winner of the Bjorn Borg Group in the semifinals on Saturday, November 15.