Rafael Nadal urges United Cup organizers to come up with format changes for future editions

Rafael Nadal lauded the level of competition but pointed out flaws in the format of the inaugural United Cup after losing successive matches in Sydney.

Nadal went down to Britain's Cameron Norrie earlier in the mixed-gender event. He then failed to get back to winning ways when he lost to Alex de Minaur of Australia on Monday.

The Spaniard lamented the fact that the significance of the Spain-Australia clash had already diminished. This is because Great Britain qualified for the knockouts from Group D on Sunday.

"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," Rafael Nadal stated during a post-match press conference.

Great Britain first beat Australia before going on to defeat Spain. This meant that both losing teams were already out of contention for the next round before playing each other.

The World No. 2 also observed that in a group of three, the loser of the opening tie should ideally take on a side that hadn't played. He opted out of the final mixed doubles clash against Britain, which was a dead rubber, after being slated to take to the court alongside Paula Badosa.

"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," Nadal said.

"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 explained.

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Rafael Nadal crashes to second straight defeat in Australia

Nadal in action against Alex de Minaur

Rafael Nadal won two Grand Slam titles despite being hampered by pain and injuries last season. However, he has been unable to get off to an ideal start ahead of the Australian Open.

The 36-year-old who reigned supreme at the Melbourne Grand Slam last year won the first set against Alex de Minaur, much like he did against Cameron Norrie. However, he allowed the Aussie to gain the upper hand much to the delight of the home fans.

The 23-year-old Australian played one of the best matches of his career triumphing 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. The Mallorcan praised him as he asserted that de Minaur played in the "important moments."

"Well, what made the difference, I think he played better than me in important moments, because I had my chances again, but I make couple of important mistakes at the moments that I can't do mistakes if I want to win these kind of matches," Rafael Nadal said.