Rafael Nadal ended a risky 2022 with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Britain’s Cameron Norrie on the United Cup blended crew match on Saturday.
Nadal gained the Australian Open and the French Open to deliver his profession Grand Slam singles tally to 22. But leg, rib and stomach accidents meant he solely performed 4 occasions after Wimbledon in July.
Norrie’s victory gave Britain a 1–0 lead over Spain with the ladies’s singles match to comply with.
Top-ranked Inga Swiatek gave Poland an early lead over Kazakhstan with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Yulia Putintseva in Brisbane.
“The first matches of the season are always bad, so I’m glad that in the crucial moments I was really ready,” Swiatek mentioned.
In Perth, Bulgaria and Belgium had been degree at 1–1 after the primary day. Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov beat David Goffin 6-4, 7-5, whereas Alison Van Uytvank gave Belgium an early lead by beating Isabella Shinnikova 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.
Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts after lacking a degree throughout his Group D match towards Cameron Norrie of Britain on the United Cup tennis occasion in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Earlier, Jiri Lehka defeated world quantity 12 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-2 to offer the Czech Republic a 2-0 lead.
The 21-year-old Leheka, ranked 81, broke 4 instances to bounce again from a gap singles loss to Taylor Fritz of the United States on Thursday of their Group C match on the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney.
Marie Bouzkova later defeated Jule Niemeyer 6–2, 7–5 within the second match to offer the Czechs a 2–0 lead. Czech girls’s No. 1 Petra Kvitova might win the tie after she takes on Laura Siegmund on Sunday.
Zverev was competing for the primary time since June when he tore three ligaments in his proper ankle throughout his Roland Garros semifinal match towards Rafael Nadal.
“I knew before the match that he hasn’t played for a long time, but with a player like him, it doesn’t mean anything,” Leheka mentioned. “In the crucial moments I showed all the experience of last year playing against good players.”
In different matches, Brazil took a 2-0 lead over Norway in Brisbane on Saturday.
World fifteenth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Norway’s Malene Helgo 6-4, 6-2 to enhance her match report to 2-0. Felipe Meligeni Alves beat Viktor Durasovic 6-3, 6-3 to offer Brazil his second win of the day.
Haddad Maia mentioned, “I was trying to be as aggressive as I could be.” “I used to be blissful that I used to be affected person and giving myself probabilities . . . although I used to be lacking. I’m pleased with the way in which I used to be considering on this match.
Two singles matches – one males’s and one girls’s – are performed over two days every, with the blended doubles ending the five-match encounter on the second day.
The inaugural United Cup will see groups from 18 nations compete in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney till January 4. The three metropolis champions and the following best-placed nation from the group stage will meet on the Ken Rosewall Arena from 6 to eight January. Determine the general winner.
After matches ended on Friday, top-ranked Greece led Group A with a 4-1 report, Switzerland led Group B (5-0), America first in Group C (4-1), Britain (3-2) tops Group D, Italy leads Group E with a 3-2 report and France (5-0) leads Group F.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
