The Spanish Rafa Nadal, number two in the world, assured that he has "the maximum motivation to try to start well" in the United Cup, a new competition for mixed teams that will open this Thursday in Australia, where the main thing for him is "to recover the sensations positive on the pitch and be competitive.
"I have the maximum motivation to try to start well. It's always important to start well for me, for confidence. The last few months have not been easy for me. The main thing now is to recover positive feelings on the pitch, to be competitive. I hope so. I am prepared to attain it, but already we will see", affirmed.
The Mallorcan will represent Spain on his return to the slopes in this new mixed team competition, in which 18 countries will participate from December 29 to January 8, in the Australian cities of Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.
"The beginning of the season is always exciting. For everyone it is something new, with doubts about how things are going to go. Although I don't know how many seasons I have on the Tour, the beginnings are always different," he said at the press conference. prior to the start of the competition.
Nadal, who won his 250 ATP title in Melbourne a year ago, before winning his second Australian Open, will represent Spain along with Paula Badosa, Pablo Carreño, Nuria Parrizas, Albert Ramos, David Vega and Jessica Bouzas and will play his first match on the 31st against the British Cameron Norrie in Sydney.
"The first match is going to be against Cam Norrie, so that's the focus now. Then for me I think it's trying to win the first tie as a team more than any individual match. Then we'll see what can happen against Australia," he added.
The 36-year-old Spanish tennis player will then have to face Australian Alex de Minaur in Group D of the United Cup, a competition promoted by the ATP and WTA, which distributes points for the respective rankings.
