Venus, Swiatek, Tsitsipas post wins but Nadal slumped to defeat
World number two Rafael Nadal slumped to defeat for a second straight time at the United Cup on Monday in a setback to his Australian Open preparations, but Venus Williams, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Iga Swiatek were both on song.
There was also more misery for former world number two Alexander Zverev, who, like Nadal, suffered a second loss to start his season, this time at the hands of Taylor Fritz.
Spanish 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal surprisingly crashed in his season-opening match on Saturday to 14th-ranked Cameron Norrie.
And he again succumbed after winning the first set, going down 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 to Australia’s 24th-ranked Alex De Minaur in Sydney, including losing six games in a row in the second set.
“Honestly, I couldn’t be happier that I managed to get my first win over Rafa on this court, it’s no secret this is my favourite court in the world,” said De Minaur. “Rafa is a hell of a competitor and what he has been able to do for this sport is truly astounding so I’m just honoured.
“It’s a dream come true.”
It went with serve to 2-2 in the first set, but Nadal played some loose shots and a double fault handed De Minaur a break point, then he sent a forehand long to go 2-3 behind.
But the Australian couldn’t sustain the pressure and Nadal broke straight back.
After a slow start, the Spaniard found his groove and in a devastating burst won the next three games to take the set.
De Minaur appeared deflated and was broken again on his first serve of the second set, but he flicked a switch to reel off six games in a row to leave Nadal stunned.
They exchanged breaks in the third set before a string of unforced errors from Nadal allowed De Minaur to break again for 6-5 and serve out for the win.
“My attitude while serving for the match was ‘See ball, hit ball’ - it worked out,” the Australian said.
The mixed-team tournament features 18 countries playing in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. The winners of the two groups in each city advance to a city final tomorrow, with whoever comes through that making the final four.
Neither Spain nor Australia can progress from Group D in Sydney, with Norrie’s Britain already the confirmed winner.
They will play the United States in the city final after Fritz and Madison Keys put their country through against Germany. - Rusty - World number nine Fritz beat Zverev 6-1, 6-4 in just 64 minutes.
It followed the German’s loss to 81st-ranked Czech Jiri Lehecka on Saturday in his first competitive match since tearing three right ankle ligaments during his French Open semi-final against Nadal in June.
“It was tough to judge my level because I feel he’s coming back from injury, he’s a bit rusty, he was giving me a lot of free points,” said Fritz, who had a breakthrough year in 2022 with titles at Indian Wells, Tokyo and Eastbourne.
“But I’m really happy with it.” Keys swept past Jule Niemeier 6-2, 6-3.
World number one Swiatek gave Poland a 1-0 lead against Switzerland in a winner-takes-all tie that will decide Group B in Brisbane, beating Belinda Bencic 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
“I’m a perfectionist, but I’m super happy with my performance today,” said Swiatek.
“On this fast surface it was really, really hard so I’m really happy that I could close it.”
Marc-Andrea Huesler clawed a point back for the Swiss 6-3, 6-2 over Daniel Michalski.
Italy need a win against eliminated Norway in Group E to advance at Brazil’s expense with Martina Trevisan delivering them an early lead by dispatching Malene Helgo 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
Lorenzo Musetti followed on, defeating Viktor Durasovic 7-6 (9/7), 6-3.
In Perth, Belgium need to defeat Greece at least 4-1 to qualify from Group A and Alison Van Uytvanck held off an inspired Despina Papamichail 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 to give them a 1-0 lead.
But world number four Tsitsipas continued his good early form with a 6-3, 6-2 win over David Goffin to level the tie.
Elsewhere, Venus Williams won her first tour-level singles match in a year and a half on Monday, defeating fellow American Katie Volynets 7-6(4) 6-2 in the opening round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand.
The 42-year-old Williams, who won the ASB Classic in 2015 and gained a wild card entry for this year’s tournament, came back from a breakdown in the first set against Volynets to set up a meeting with China’s Lin Zhu in the next round.
In a close first set, Volynets was serving to take an early lead in the match at 5-4, but Williams hit back by breaking her opponent to love before going on to take the tiebreak.
She then raced into a 5-0 lead in the second set and had the match wrapped up three games later — her first singles victory since defeating Romania’s Mihaela Buzărnescu at Wimbledon in 2021.
“This is one of my favorite places to come, I was so excited that I made it here … I’m happy to get a win today against a great opponent,” Williams, a former world No. 1 and seven-time grand slam champion, said in her on-court interview.
Last month, it was announced that Williams, who made her professional debut back in 1994, had received a wild card for the main draw of the upcoming Australian Open, which begins on January 16.
