Nadal bemoans dead tie versus Australia

Glenn Cullen | January 3, 2023

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.

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.