I tried to do what Rafael Nadal does to his opponents: Alex de Minaur on ATP Cup meeting
Rafael Nadal had an incredible 2019 season by all accounts. The Spaniard won both the French Open and the US Open, bringing his total Slam haul to 19 - just one short of Roger Federer's record of 20.
The World No. 2 also won two Masters 1000 titles, in Rome and Toronto, before picking up the year-end World No. 1 ranking. Rafael Nadal was successful even with the Spain national team, picking up the Davis Cup title while extending his record win-streak at the competition to 32 matches in a row.
Nadal couldn't quite repeat his Davis Cup heroics at the ATP Cup earlier this year, as Spain finished runners-up to Serbia. But he did beat Aussie player Alex de Mianur in a high quality match along the way, showing once again that he knows how to handle the younger talents on the tour.
De Minaur recently recounted his experience of facing Rafael Nadal at the ATP Cup, and how he achieved moderate success by attempting to do what Rafael Nadal himself has done against many opponents in the past.
Tried to bring all the energy I could to beat Rafael Nadal: De Minaur
Speaking with tennishead, De Minaur talked about the unique challenge of facing Rafael Nadal and how he had to prepare differently for the big match.
"It was a very good experience," said De Minaur. "It was also a weird one as I went into that match in a completely different headspace than I’ve gone into a lot of my matches."
The Aussie has faced Rafael Nadal on three occasions but never been on the winning side. After losing the first set in Sydney, De Minaur rallied to bring the match close, before eventually losing 4-6 7-5 1-6.
"We were down 1-0 in the tie and I had to go out there and try to beat Rafa to send the match into the deciding doubles," the World No. 26 reminisced.
De Minaur then revealed that took a leaf right out of Rafael Nadal's book, vocally pumping himself up and letting everyone know he was in for a fight. Ultimately, despite putting up a spirited show, De Minaur lost in what he calls a 'bitter-sweet ending'.
"I tried to bring all the energy I could get into this match. I tried to go out there and do what Rafa does to his opponents and jump around in his face and try to be as electric and verbal as I can."
"I ripped out a ‘come-on’ in the first point to try to let him know that I was meaning business. It was a great match and experience but with a bittersweet ending," concluded the 20-year-old.
Rafael Nadal took Spain to the final of the inaugural ATP Cup, but that was as far as they would get. In the all-important deciding singles match, Nadal was defeated by Novak Djokovic who inspired his team to the trophy.