Rafael Nadal calls for United Cup overhaul after defeat to Alex de Minaur in Sydney | Tennis

Rafael Nadal has called for an overhaul of the nascent United Cup competition as his Spanish side prepare for the second day of a dead tie against Australia.

The new teams’ tournament debuted in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane this season but has proven to be more miss than hit with player withdrawals, a convoluted schedule, and ties that count for nothing.

Unprompted, Nadal gave his opinions on the format following his three-set loss to Australian Alex de Minaur, part of a tie that means very little given Great Britain already progressed from the group after two wins.

“Putting things in perspective (for) this competition, I find a negative point,” the world No.2 said. “Competition is great. Idea is great. It’s not great that today we are playing for nothing. It’s the first year of this competition, so that’s the kind of thing that we need to fix, to improve, and to make it more interesting for everyone.”

Nadal said for a start, the loser of the first tie should play the team that hasn’t had a match so there is more on the line. Spain could not progress in the competition after finding themselves down 3-1 to Great Britain, meaning the last mixed doubles and then five matches against Australia were largely meaningless.

Nadal subsequently skipped the mixed doubles against Great Britain but said he would have played if it meant getting a point that could have helped the cause if the Australia tie was a live one.

Instead, the 23-year-old Australian was able to register his first-ever win over 22-time grand slam champion Nadal at the United Cup, downing the Spaniard 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.

Until Monday night in Sydney, de Minaur had never beaten a player ranked No 1 or No 2 in the world – now he has beaten arguably the best of all-time.

“It’s a big win for myself, one that I really needed. I’m gonna cherish and use, take all the confidence from this and be able to hopefully take it to have a good Aussie summer,” de Minaur said.

World No 2 Nadal started inauspiciously, going down an early break, only to reel off four straight games to snatch the first set. That momentum continued with another break to start the second set, only for the Sydney local to produce some of his own trademark grit and storm through the next six games.

The decider was a mixed bag – de Minaur’s foot speed and ability to rip out winners from defensive positions against the brute force and experience of Nadal. The pair traded breaks midway through the set before an error-strewn 11th game from Nadal saw de Minaur serve for the match and claim the win.

After a patchy back half of 2022 and a surprise loss to Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in Spain’s opening tie, there have been questions being raised about Nadal’s form and motivation as he heads into the twilight of his career.

Since pulling out of the Wimbledon semi-final of 2022 against Nick Kyrgios he has had four wins on tour from 11 starts.

“I need hours on court; I need battles like this,” the Melbourne Park defending champion said.

“I have two weeks before the Australian Open starts. I can’t say that the situation is ideal, but at the same time, I can’t say that it’s very negative, because for moments, I was playing good. I think that two matches is gonna help me. I need to win a couple of matches.”

In the second match of the night, Nuria Parrizas Dias was too good for Maddison Inglis, her 6-1, 6-3 win locking up the tie at a rubber apiece.

Similarly, the US qualified for the final of the Sydney leg after winning one match against Germany on Monday and ultimately taking a 2-0 lead in their tie to go with the 4-1 win against Czech Republic.

Croatia are one win away from moving through to the Perth final after taking a 2-0 lead over France, with Borna Coric and Donna Vekic both enjoying straight-set wins on Monday.

Switzerland and Poland are locked at 1-1 in Brisbane; Greece and Belgium 1-1 in Perth and Italy are up 2-0 against Norway.