Alex de Minaur admitted he didn't believe that he would reach the semifinal in Turin and also added that he "made peace with myself" that his ATP Finals campaign would end in the group stage following a devastating loss to Lorenzo Musetti in the second match.
After losing to Carlos Alcaraz in his opening ATP Finals match, de Minaur was 5-3 up on Musetti in the third set of his following match before suffering a shock collapse and seeing the Italian storm back to win 7-5 3-6 7-5. While that loss put the Australian to a 0-2 record in Turin, the world No. 7 still had a chance of making the knock-out stage.
For that to happen, de Minaur firstly needed to beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets on Thursday - which he did after registering a 7-6 (3) 6-3 victory. Then, the 10-time ATP champion needed Alcaraz to defeat Musetti - the Spaniard did that by sealing a 6-4 6-1 triumph.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the end, Alcaraz finished Jimmy Connors Group with a 3-0 record, while de Minaur, Fritz and Musetti all finished with a 1-2 record. But it was the Australian who clinched the remaining semifinal ticket with just one win.
De Minaur didn't believe he would reach the ATP Finals semis even after beating Fritz
"I don't know. Going in I had no idea. I got told again on the court the situation. I still don't believe it. Till this point, I don't believe that I've got a genuine chance to get through. As I said, I made peace with myself. I'm proud of my efforts today. Whatever happens tonight will happen. I would love nothing more than, genuinely, nothing more than to be able to switch off completely and not think about it for one second," the Australian said in his presser when asked about if he would watch the Alcaraz and Musetti match.
ADVERTISEMENT
This will be de Minaur's first trip to the semifinal stage at the season-ending tournament. There, he will battle against Jannik Sinner.
