Nadal made his United Cup debut with a loss after an epic battle with Norrie

Rafael Nadal closed the year 2022 with a loss. The number 2 in the world fell this Saturday to Cameron Norrie (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) in his United Cup debuta mixed team tournament taking place today in Australia, after a fierce battle of 2 hours and 45 minutes where he proved to be at a good level despite the lack of filming.

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The Spaniard began with force and, after some even first games in which both managed to keep their serves, he achieved a break that allowed him to solve the first set without setbacks.

It was mid second when things started to go wrong. The Briton, who had just beaten De Miñaur easily on the first day, began to dominate from the back of the court, earning the break in the sixth game of the second set. The Spaniard did not take advantage of his opportunities to balance the situation and extend the sleeve and the duel went to the third and final set.

There, a Norrie with a more competitive rhythm continued to struggle with his serve and, after gaining an early break, he was able to counter the reaction attempts of a Nadal who had several break points in the second half of the set.

After suffering from 3-2 and 4-3, the British closed the game with a blank game allowing Great Britain to add the first point of the tie.

“It’s crazy. I thought I had never won a set against him and I want to go out there and do it first and I have to be patient,” Norrie said after the game.

“I did not let him do too much damage to his right. It was a very physical match. I really enjoyed it, that was a huge overcome and he was finally defeated. It’s a great way to end the year,” added the British player.

Next, Nuria Párrizas will face Katie Swan to complete the first day of the Spanish team captained by Marc López in the first edition of this tournament that opens a new course.

For Sunday there will be matches of Paula Badosa against Harriet Dart and Pablo Carreño against Daniel Evans to close the mixed doubles that, in principle, Nadal and Badosa would play against Dart and Evans.