Aussie Star’s ‘Eat Me Alive’ Cry Sparks Backlash: Critics Call it a ‘Weakness’ Never Seen in Nadal or Djokovic Era

Alex de Minaur has criticised his failure to defeat the best players in the sport after his ATP Finals campaign was dealt a possibly terminal ending after losing 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 to Lorenzo Musetti in a thriller.

There were whispers that Musetti was struggling on court after playing a lot of tennis in recent times just to qualify for the event. While he was tested by the Aussie, he managed to soldier through to clinch the first set after clinching a late break. After saving three break points in the first game, de Minaur levelled the tie with a late break of his own. This would be in the midst of a five-game streak for de Minaur who went 2-0 ahead in the third. However, he was unable to close out the tie. While trying to serve the match out, Musetti prolonged the tie before getting another break to seal a huge victory.

From serving out the match to being broken in a very short space of time, de Minaur never recovered as Musetti grew stronger to clinch his first win in the ATP Tour Finals. For de Minaur, his wait for a win continues. Five matches spanning over two years have ended in disappointment each tome for the frustrated 26-year-old.

“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,” de Minaur said after the match. “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 being the world number six, de Minaur has struggled to get results over his rivals surrounding him in the rankings. He qualified for the event without drama, confirming his place in the premature stages at the Paris Masters after enduring a solid year. He reached two finals, winning one title in the DC Open. He made two Grand Slam quarter-finals among a flurry of Masters 1000 last-eight appearances at the end of the year.

Excluding the Laver Cup, de Minaur has lost his last 16 matches against top 10 players. This was not a problem a couple of years ago. In 2023 he defeated top 10 players on six occasions. This included against world number two Rafael Nadal and number three ranked Medvedev. He then continued this form going into 2024, picking up three top 10 wins in the United Cup alone. One of them was against the former world number one Novak Djokovic. He would only secure two more wins from this position.

A big part of this is his game style. He is very well known for being a baseline player who utilise this incredible speed to dart around the court and return seemingly impossible shots back. He is not known for having a big serve or forehand to get him out of sticky situations. When closing matches out, he is not always able to get the job done. This was shown against Musetti yesterday when he was unable to close the match out on his serve. He has just one match left to end this abysmal streak in 2025, or he will have to wait until 2026 to try again. He will take on Taylor Fritz, with everyone in the Jimmy Connors group still able to qualify or be eliminated.