Jul 26, 2025; Washington, D.C., USA; Alex de Minaur (AUS) waves to the crowd after his match against Corentin Moutet (FRA)(not pictured) in a men's singles semi-final on day six of the Mubadala Citi DC Open at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center.

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‘Mentally It’s Killing Me’ – Alex de Minaur Makes Crushing Revelation After Nitto ATP Finals 2025 Loss to Lorenzo Musetti

The Australian is currently 0-2 at the 2025 ATP Finals.

World No. 7 Alex de Minaur provided a brutally honest take after losing to Lorenzo Musetti in three sets at the Nitto ATP Finals 2025 on Tuesday. The Australian had a 5-3 advantage in the deciding set and served for the match at 5-4, before collapsing to defeat. The home favorite Italian rallied towards the dying stages to produce a scintillating 7-5 3-6 7-5 victory in the Jimmy Connors Group.

Lorenzo Musetti’s reaction after beating Alex de Minaur at the ATP Finals

Huge forehand to finish it

He shakes his head & bends to his knees

The crowd goes NUTS

Down 3-5 in the 3rd

A comeback that’ll be talked about in Turin for a long time 🇮🇹🥹

pic.twitter.com/dR9oJCFgOJ
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) November 11, 2025

The 26-year-old is now 0-5 at the season-ending championships across his two appearances. Although the tournament has been far from encouraging for de Minaur thus far, the 7th seed can still advance to the knockout rounds with a straight sets win over American Taylor Fritz in his deciding round robin fixture, and if Carlos Alcaraz overpowers Musetti later on Thursday.

In late July, de Minaur won his solitary title of the 2025 season at the Citi DC Open in Washington. Apart from this, the Aussie also reached the final in Rotterdam, and semifinals at Monte Carlo, Beijing and Vienna. This has given him an impressive win-loss record of 55-23 (including the loss vs Musetti) so far. Yet, de Minaur’s record against Top-10 players will leave him deeply concerned.

Alex de Minaur Addresses Struggles Against Top Players in Brutally Honest Take

It was a match that involved multiple shifts in momentum throughout the 2 hours and 47 minutes. Musetti adopted a court position behind the baseline to capitalize on de Minaur’s lack of firepower in groundstroke exchanges. From being able to use the pace of his opponents, the Australian was forced to take matters into his own hands and create openings. After some thrilling exchanges, the Paris Olympic bronze medalist broke late in the set to take it 7-5.

ABSOLUTELY INSANE 🤯👏

Musetti and De Minaur produce the POINT OF THE WEEK!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/42A81qUf7l
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 11, 2025

There were a plethora of captivating rallies during this match-up, as de Minaur and Musetti kept the crowd entertained. Both players moved one another from side to side, and the encounter went down to the wire. Down 3-5 in the third set, Musetti used the home advantage to eke out some extra energy and turn the tide. From de Minaur’s point of view, it was his 16th consecutive loss against a Top-10 opponent (not including Laver Cup).

Strong words from De Minaur following heartbreaking Musetti defeat: "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. It feels like I've lost a lot of them this year. I mean, more than anything, it's getting…
— Sam Jacot (@samjacot) November 11, 2025

“If I really want to be serious about taking the next step in my career, these matches, I can’t lose them,” laid out the Australian. “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.”

Will Alex de Minaur be able to regain the physical and mental intensity to take down Taylor Fritz in the final round robin encounter? Only time will tell.

(Image Credits: Geoff Burke, Imagn Images)

Alex de Minaur

ATP

Carlos Alcaraz

Lorenzo Musetti

Nitto ATP Finals

Taylor Fritz

Tennis

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.