A bad start to the year. Rafael Nadal struggles at the United Cup, losing his first two matches of the season for the first time in his career

The end of the last season and the beginning of the new one are not going as Rafael Nadal expected. At the same time, the Spanish legend is under a constant barrage of questions about the possible end of his career. At the Australian United Cup, Nadal hasn’t been helping Spain much in terms of points so far, and has now lost his second match.

It hasn’t been quite the same since the unlucky end at Wimbledon, where he had to withdraw from the tournament due to injury. At the US Open came a loss in the quarter-finals to the host Tiafoe, at the Paris Masters it was over in the first round.

And the Spanish veteran’s form wasn’t there at the Tournament of Champions either, where he lost two matches in the main group and didn’t make the play-offs.

But the new season brings new challenges and Rafa certainly wanted to start the new season with a successful preparation for the Australian Open, where he defends his championship from last year. But that hasn’t quite happened yet.

Before the end of last year, the United Cup started, where Spain was hoping for a good result. But they crashed hard in their first match.

The Brits dismantled them 4:1 and Nadal himself lost his match against the British number one and still improving Cameron Norrie in three sets. Norrie, meanwhile, had never taken a set off Nadal until then.

Trouble with De Minaur

But there was no improvement in form in the next match, this time against Australian Alex De Minaur. Here it was clear from the start that the young De Minaur would try to make the most of the Spaniard’s poor form.

Already in the first set, he developed a one break advantage, but it didn’t last until the next game, in which Nadal took the game back. He then broke the Australian’s serve once more to win the first set.

In the second set, however, came the explosion. Nadal had no luck at all, on the contrary, his opponent took four chances out of five to gain a break and beat the world number two in the second set with a class difference of 6::1.

The last third set was decided in the eleventh game, in which De Minaur got Nadal’s serve and then finished the match – 7::5.

What’s next for Nadal?

The Spaniards are now playing Australia 1:1 on points, and the next match for the star Nadal is tomorrow, when he tries his hand at mixed doubles alongside Paula Badosa. But the schedule could change before then.

But nothing changes the fact that Nadal is losing significantly more than we have been used to with him so far. The 36-year-old Spaniard doesn’t even want to hear questions about the end of his career, but the truth is that age can’t be stopped and young predators take every opportunity to show themselves to the world.

Source: ATP