There’s no such thing as a meaningless match for Alex de Minaur.
The Australian registered his first-ever win over 22-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal at the United Cup, downing the Spaniard 3-6 6-1 7-5.
While not on the biggest stage – the clash was part of a dead tie with Great Britain already progressing to the next round of the competition – it’s still one of the best of the 23-year-old’s career.
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.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
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.
There’d be no more drama as the Australian served it out to love to claim the win.
“I did basically what I’ve always wanted to do, serve cannons and not have to play too many long points when you serve it out,” de Minaur said.
“I was very happy with myself there.”
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.”
De Minaur finishes the tournament with a 1-1 singles record after also falling to Norrie.
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.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Rafa wants format overhauled
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.
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.
It rendered Tuesday’s remaining play between the sides of little consequence.
Meanwhile, 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.
Fraser
Roar Rookie
The format isn't very exciting for some reason. I can't really put my finger on it, but I haven't really cared much about it. In any case, it was a quality match between Demon and Nadal. Nadal seems slightly off the pace, but de Minaur was tenacious last night and was chasing the ball all over the court. Some of those balls he had no right getting to and hit winners from.
Racing Chicken Trainer
Roar Rookie
Fantastic result for Alex just before Aussie open, can’t wait!
Bloke7
Roar Rookie
I had to go and read about this United Cup format and got to say I agree with Nadal. Seems a bit convoluted and with no history I can see why players aren't that keen on it. Also, for a player leading up to the Australian open I wouldn't want to commit to a time slot that may or may not be needed if my country gets out of the group stages. I think it would be better off if there were more matches played against more countries in larger groups. That way you could commit all the countries to play more tennis in say a 8 day period, then the top 4 countries go through to the semis and finals to be played in the following 6 days. Two weeks, loads of tennis, big match ups and players only have a short window at the end they need to worry about. Or we could just drop it completely. Not sure anyone would notice