16 consecutive losses against the top 10, ATP Finals: The two terrible statistics for Alex De Minaur

Alex De Minaur came close to victory against Lorenzo Musetti on Tuesday night at the ATP Finals. But the Australian ultimately fell, edging him closer to a group stage elimination for the second consecutive year.

De Minaur wasn't far from a first win at the ATP Finals. The world number 7 led 5 games to 3 in the final set against Musetti, but ultimately lost (7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in 2 hours 44 minutes).

With a second defeat in as many matches, the 26-year-old player will need a very favorable set of circumstances to reach the semifinals. Furthermore, this loss against the Italian confirms his current struggles against members of the top 10.

Indeed, as reported by the X (formerly Twitter) account Jeu, Set et Maths, De Minaur has now lost his last 16 matches against the world's top ten in official competition.

His terrible streak began at Roland-Garros last year, when he lost in the quarterfinals to Alexander Zverev. His last win against a top 10 player thus dates back to the round of 16 at Roland-Garros 2024 against Daniil Medvedev, who was the number 5 seed at the time (4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3).

Furthermore, De Minaur, who is playing the ATP Finals for the second time in his career, has now lost his first five matches in the tournament. After his losses against Sinner, Medvedev, and Fritz in the group stage last year, he lost to Alcaraz and Musetti this time, and has become, according to the same source, the third player since the early 1990s to have lost his first five matches at the ATP Finals.

Before him, Marin Cilic (5) and Michael Chang (6) had similarly difficult starts in the tournament of masters. To avoid matching Chang's record, he will need to defeat Fritz in the final group match this Thursday, in a match where both players can still qualify.