World number two Rafael Nadal slumped to a second-straight defeat at the United Cup on Monday in a setback to his Australian Open preparations. 

There was also more misery for former world number two Alexander Zverev, who, like Nadal, suffered a second loss to start his season, this time at the hands of Taylor Fritz. Spanish 22-time Grand Slam winner Nadal surprisingly crashed in his season-opening match on Saturday to 14th-ranked Cameron Norrie. And he again succumbed after winning the first set, going down 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 to Australia’s 24th-ranked Alex De Minaur in Sydney, including losing six games in a row in the second set.