“Playing for nothing,” Rafael Nadal flags a drawback in the United Cup format
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Rafael Nadal (Image Credit: EuroSport)
Spain fielded a very strong team with Rafael Nadal, Paula Badosa, Pablo Carreno Busta, among others, in its ranks for the inaugural edition of the United Cup. It was also drawn in a tough Group D with Australia and Great Britain. However, Spain’s run in the competition came to an end after losing to Great Britain.
Rafael Nadal who his first match of the season against Cameron Norrie of Great Britain. He subsequenlty lost the match against Australia’s Alex de Minaur. This jeopardized his team’s chances of advancing into the next round of the tournament.
However, the 22-time Grand Slam champion is impressed with the mixed-gender format of the event and the idea to have the best both male and female players from different countries playing under their respective countries’ flags. He is also very happy with the kind of competitive level that is present in the tournament. But he has raised a valid point regarding the format of the competition.
“Putting things in perspective, that this competition I find a negative point, you know. Competition is great. Idea is great. It’s not great that today we are playing for nothing. I really believe – it’s the first year of this competition, so that’s kind of things that need to fix, to improve, and to make it more interesting for everyone,” he said.
Great Britain qualified to advance into the next round after defeating both Australia and Spain in its group clashes. This left the match between Australia and Spain into insignificance.
Rafael Nadal also talks about the fixtures
The 22-time Grand Slam champion came to this competition riding on great hopes and expectations. The Spanish team was also strong. Except for World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and Roberto Bautista Agut, the best players according to both the ATP and WTA rankings were playing for Spain in this event. However, the Spanish team could not manage to make it to the next round.
Rafael Nadal threw light on a flaw in the way matches between different teams have been fixed. He argues that the loser of the first group match must play against the team which still has to play. The 2-time Wimbledon champion could have ended his and his team’s campaign in the competition on a winning note by playing in the mixed doubles match with Paula Badosa, but he chose to not play.
“I really believe that in a group of three, the loser of the first tie needs to play with the team that didn’t play yet, because that makes the competition much more interesting. Because, for example yesterday, even if we lost yesterday, with the format how it is, the last mixed doubles match probably I will be playing, because maybe that match can make a difference even losing the tie because we have another day,” he continued.
Rafael Nadal will play in the Australian Open 2023 as he looks to defend his title.
Related: Marin Cilic confident of challenging anyone on the tour after a “positive” 2022
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)