Rafael Nadal’s poor run continues as he slumps to fresh defeat at United Cup

The result means Nadal will go into the defence of his Australian Open title having lost six of his seven matches dating back to the US Open.

Rafael Nadal looks frustrated during his loss to Alex De Minaur (Mark Baker/AP)

Rafael Nadal’s struggles continued as he suffered a second consecutive defeat at the United Cup in Sydney.

Having lost to Cameron Norrie in a result that set Great Britain on the way to victory over Spain at the new mixed team event, Nadal was then beaten 3-6 6-1 7-5 by Australia’s Alex De Minaur on Monday.