Rafa Nadal suffered his second straight defeat at the United Cup mixed team tournament on Monday, falling to Australia's Alex de Minaur as concerns about the world number two's early season form grew ahead of his Australian Open title defence.
Nadal showed glimpses of brilliance during his opening loss by Briton Cameron Norrie following his return to action after an injury-hit 2022 season and he looked set to respond against De Minaur, only to fall again as the Australian won 3-6 6-1 7-5.
His other losses have come against Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe. Nadal will next be in action at the season's first Grand Slam at Melbourne Park starting Jan. 16, giving him time to iron out flaws. However, the 23-year-old rallied from a set and a break down to secure the biggest victory of his career as Nadal surrendered his serve in the 11th game and De Minaur closed out the victory to spark emotional scenes and delight the raucous Sydney fans.
The winners of each of the two groups from the three venues -- Sydney, Perth and Brisbane -- compete in the "city finals" on Wednesday to determine who makes the last four.
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