A frustrated Alex de Minaur continued his losing run against top 10 players at the ATP Finals, saying the horror run against elite competition will "eat me alive" if not rectified.
The 26-year-old Australian was two points away from victory over Lorenzo Musetti only to be broken twice in three games, as the Italian home crowd urged the underdog to a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 win.
Musetti looked down and out with de Minaur serving for the match in the third set but those who left early to beat the traffic missed out on a stunning comeback.
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Musetti's victory means that all four players can still make the semi-finals, with the Italian facing Alcaraz, on two wins from two, and Fritz taking on de Minaur to close out the Jimmy Connors Group, with the top two making the last four.
The Italian took the first set after breaking serve at 5-5, and de Minaur survived three break points in the opening game of the second set before finding his first break points of the match at 4-4 and making them count.
De Minaur had control in the final set at 2-0 up, but when it came to the crunch Musetti found energy from somewhere to pull off a great escape. For the Italian, defeat would have meant elimination.
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"I think it's probably a good thing I don't express my feelings right now because they're quite dark," 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.
"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. I don't know how many times I can deal with a loss like this one.
"I just have to talk to my team and try to sort out these issues because these are issues that can't keep happening, 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."
De Minaur described the emotional toll of the recent defeats from winning positions: "I keep putting everything into these matches. When the result's not there, it's hard to keep pushing through.
"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."
Musetti only received the call-up to play in the ATP Finals when Novak Djokovic withdrew one day before the tournament began.
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