If Rafael Nadal wanted the questions about his retirement to go away, a second straight loss is not going to help it.
Aussie gun Alex de Minaur has defeated Rafael Nadal for the first time in his career, claiming a 3-6 6-1 7-5 victory on Ken Rosewall Arena.
De Minaur broke first against Nadal but was quickly overwhelmed by the 22-time grand slam champion in the first set.
He was then broken in the first game of the second set but broke Nadal three straight times to claim the set 6-1, even seeing off three break points to serve out the second.
The third went on serve in the third until the 11th game when De Minaur finally earned the break point and served out the match with the final 10 points of the match.
But while it’s an enormous win for De Minaur, it’s not the Nadal the world is used to seeing, having hit 40 unforced errors and the commentators pointing out how out-of-sorts he seemed.
It’s the second straight match Nadal has lost at the United Cup after he went down to Brit Cam Norrie 3-6 6-3 6-4 on New Year’s Eve.
It was a good night on the courts for the Aussies with Alexei Popyrin pulling off the biggest scalp of his career by taking down World No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Aussie Popyrin beats World Number 6! | 01:18
Nadal, who is currently World No. 2 and is coming off a season where he claimed two grand slams, is no doubt better than most players in the world but has had a rough run since he withdrew from the Wimbledon semi-finals with an abdominal injury.
Since returning to the court, he’s had two exits after his first match of two tournaments, a fourth round exit at the US Open and one win from three matches at the ATP Finals where he’s seemed out of sorts, with a record of 4-7.
Nine commentator Jim Courier said Nadal “hasn’t played close to that level since then”.
“I was in Los Angeles working calling all of his matches (at the ATP Finals),” Courier said. “It was uncomfortable watching the misses that he was hitting because we’ve never seen him miss rally shots like that.”
Tim Henman even said in the second set that Nadal was “looking for shortcuts”, which is not a phrase you’d generally associate with Nadal.
While Nadal could end up wiping egg on all our faces when the Australian Open comes around, it’s a worrying trend for the 36-year-old.
Racquet Magazine’s Ben Rothenberg put his performances in perspective.
“Rafael Nadal is going through the worst run, resultswise, of his career. He’s only 1-6 in his last seven matches, with the lone win coming in a dead rubber in round-robin play in Turin against Ruud,” he tweeted.
“But by eye-test, things don’t look nearly that desperate for Nadal right now.
“He lost in tight third sets to Norrie and De Minaur, and he was cracking some pretty thunderous forehands against AdM, especially.
“He’s not the favourite in Melbourne, but he’s hardly out of the mix.”
Tennis journalist Gaspar Ribeiro Lanca added: “After starting the 2022 season with a 20-0 record, Rafael Nadal starts the 2023 season 0-2. It’s the first time in his career that he loses his first two matches of a season.”
A fired up De Minaur, who was clearly still buzzing with emotion, paid tribute to a packed Sydney crowd and the Spanish champion.
“I couldn’t be happier that I managed to get my first win over Rafa on this court in front of your guys,” the ever classy De Minaur said. “It’s no secret this is my favourite court in the entire world, so thank you very much.
“I knew it was going to be a battle, Rafa is a hell of a competitor. What he’s been able to do for this sport has been truly astounding. I’m just honoured and it’s a dream come true to be able to beat on court.”
De Minaur also said: “Whenever I get a chance to play for Australia, and I’m a true believer in there being no greater honour than playing for your country. Every time there’s an opportunity I’ll put my hand up. I love doing it, I love playing for Australia and I’ll keep doing it with a smile on my face.”
