His Australian Open preparations may not be going entirely according to plan, but Rafael Nadal is in no mood to follow his old rival Roger Federer into retirement just yet.
With just over a fortnight to go until he begins his title defence at Melbourne Park, Nadal was beaten 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Cameron Norrie as Spain faced Great Britain at the United Cup in Sydney on Saturday.
“Not a disaster at all,” declared the 22-time grand slam champion, who was generous in his praise for Norrie while acknowledging the need to sharpen his own movement, consistency and decision-making.
But there was a hint of irritation from Nadal afterwards when asked if he was starting to find life on tour heavy going. Clearly eager to scotch speculation about his future, the Spaniard replied pointedly that he was in town to play tennis.
“When the day arrives that [I] go out on court and say, ‘That’s getting hard,’ [it] is the day to say goodbye,” said Nadal with a smile belying his evident distaste for the line of questioning. “I don’t want to.
“The only reason that [it] makes sense to keep playing [is] if I really enjoy what I do, and if I really feel it. If I don’t feel it, I mean, I did much more than what I ever dreamed. But either way, for me, I lost my match. That’s it, no?
“Every time that I am coming to a press conference, [it] seems that I have to retire. So you are very, very interested in my retirement. I mean, for the moment, that’s not the case. When this day arrives, I’m going to let you know, guys. Don’t keep going with the retirement [questions], because I’m here to keep playing tennis.”
Nadal, an Olympic gold medallist in singles and doubles and the linchpin of five triumphant Davis Cup campaigns, has traditionally thrived when representing his country. But after an encouraging start to his first official match since November’s ATP Finals, the Majorcan was slowly reeled in by Norrie, who hailed the victory as the finest of his career.
“I think it was, especially on ranking and beating a guy like Rafa as the competitor that he is,” said Norrie, the world No 14, who was without win a against Nadal in four previous meetings.
“I know it’s his first match of the year, but it was a sick win. He absolutely chopped me the last five or four times I played him, so it is nice to get him once now. I really played well and held my nerve throughout the match.”
Norrie’s win, which was followed in short space by an outstanding 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory for 23-year-old Katie Swan over Nuria Párrizas Díaz, ranked 70th, gave Britain the platform for a 4-1 win over Spain.
Dan Evans sealed Britain’s place in this Wednesday’s playoff final against either the US, Germany or the Czech Republic with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Harriet Dart was earlier beaten by world No 13 Paula Badosa, who turned to pickle juice to overcome cramping en route to a 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 win, before Dart and Jonny O’Mara defeated Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and David Vega Hernandez 3-6, 6-2, 10-5 in the concluding mixed doubles.
Evans afterwards paid tribute to the role played by Tim Henman, the British team captain, in driving his side to victory.
“We all grew up watching Tim, who is obviously a very good tennis player – a lot better than basically everyone on the team. He knows so much,” said Evans.
“It’s amazing to hear his insight into the match. A lot of the time it can be a bit different to what we might be seeing. You sort of trust that, and it really does help.”
The inaugural mixed-team event consists of six groups of three teams playing across a trio of cities – Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. The two group winners from each location will play a “city final” against each other for a place in the last four, with the best-performing runner-up from those matches clinching the fourth semi-final spot.
In Brisbane, Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz combined to complete a 4-1 win for Poland over Kazakhstan with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Zhibek Kulambayeva and Grigoriy Lomakin. The match was notable for an outrageous around-the-netpost winner from Swiatek.
Hurkacz earlier defeated Alexander Bublik 7-6 (10-8), 4-6, 6-3 before Magda Linette gave Poland an unassailable 3-1 lead with a 6-2, 6-1 against Kulambayeva. On day one, Swiatek had handed Poland a 1-0 advantage with a 6-1, 6-3 victory Yulia Putintseva before Timofey Skatov defeated Daniel Michalski 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 to level.
Agnieszka Radwanska’s side will now face Switzerland for a place in the semi-finals, with the top-ranked Swiatek to face Belinda Bencic, the world No 12, in her second singles match of the season on Monday.
“She’s such an experienced player, and she has a different game style than most of the girls. She’s hitting the ball pretty early and you have to be ready for that, especially on a fast surface,” said Swiatek. “I’m gonna do everything to win.”