United Cup: De Minaur stuns Rafael Nadal

SYDNEY: Rafael Nadal's woeful start to the season got a bit more gloomy on Monday as the Spanish World No. 2 suffered his second defeat in the United Cup mixed team tennis tournament.

Nadal, who had earlier lost to Cameron Norrie in Spain's first preliminary round match here, went down to Australia's Alex de Minaur in three games as the hosts took a 1-0 lead in their Group D encounter.

De Minaur came up with a stunning performance here on Monday as he upset Nadal 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 as the 23-year-old rallied from a set-and-a-break down to earn the biggest win of his career by ATP Ranking after two hours and 44 minutes.

"I think it's definitely up there [as one of my best wins]," De Minaur said. "It's one of those achievements that you have unlocked in your career. But also, it's a big win for me, one that I really needed. I'm gonna cherish and use, take all the confidence from this and be able to hopefully take it to have a good Aussie summer.

"It's always a surreal experience playing here. Just walking out there and hearing the support I get on that court is pretty special. No secret [that] it is my favourite court to play on in front of friends and family. I've had so many great memories, and I've been able to add another one to it. I'm extremely stoked," De Minaur was quoted as saying in a report on the ATP Tour's official website.

In a thrilling encounter, De Minaur showed an abundance of grit and quality to delight his raucous home supporters. The World No. 24 scampered around the baseline to hang in rallies, shortening his backswing off his groundstrokes to take away time from Nadal and turn the tables. With his statement victory, the 23-year-old improved to 1-3 in his ATP head-to-head series against Nadal.

De Minaur, who also lost against Briton Cameron Norrie in his opening match of the season, has now earned eight Top 10 wins in his career. (IANS)