Alex de Minaur had one hand on victory against Lorenzo Musetti at the ATP Finals on Tuesday.
The world number seven had an opportunity to serve for the match in the third set, but the Italian wasn’t going to be denied and fought back to claim the 7-6, 3-6, 7-5 victory.
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The brutal loss takes the Aussie’s record at the ATP Finals to a bleak 0-5 after he failed to win a match during the group stages at the end of year event last year.
After dropping the opening set, de Minaur rallied to take the second set and then looked like powering away when he was up 5-3 in the third, winning a 31-shot rally to get within a game of victory.
Musetti didn’t just hold serve but went on to win the next four games against a lapsing de Minaur.
“I was really struggling physically because Alex raised the level and intensity and I was really struggling to find the solution,” Musetti said.
“But at the end with a big heart and big passion for this game, I don’t know from where, I started to feel better and play better.
“I am a warrior. I have improved a lot on the mental side and I am pushing myself to the limit because I am playing every match against the top players.”
De Minaur lost his opening match in the group stages to world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and will now face American Taylor Fritz in what could be his final game at the event in Turin.
The ATP Tour Finals see the top eight players in the world face off and while the Aussie has now qualified two years in a row, he has failed to win a match with his record against the best players on the planet makes for bleak reading.
Outside of the Laver Cup, de Minaur has now suffered 16 consecutive losses against players inside the top 10.
In that span he has lost to Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Novak Djokovic, Andrey Rublev and Lorenzo Musetti.
Following the loss to Musetti the Aussie cut a dejected figure during his post-match press conference.
“If I really want to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these matches, I can’t lose them. I just can’t,” he said.
“I mean, it feels like I’ve lost a lot of them this year. More than anything, it’s getting to a point where mentally it’s killing me.
“I just (need to) win these matches. 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. I don’t know how many times I can deal with a loss like this one.”
Despite his horror record against the best players on the tour, the Aussie can still advance out of the group stage.
In order to do so he’ll need to topple Fritz in straight sets while needing Alcaraz to defeat Musetti.
Fritz has won the past two contests against de Minaur and will enter with plenty of confidence after a career best year.
The final match of the round robin stage will take place on Friday, November 14.
