Nadal suffered his second consecutive defeat in the $15 million tournament on Monday when he lost to Alex De Minaur, but Spain and Australia were unable to reach the next stage after losing their first match of the tournament against Great Britain.
"
The competition is great, the idea is great
," said Nadal, who will next travel to Melbourne to defend his Australian Open title.
“
But it's not great that we play for nothing.
I really believe that in a group of three, the loser of the first game must play with the team that has not yet played, because it makes the competition much more interesting
”.
After Great Britain's 3-1 win over Spain in the opener, Nadal did not play mixed doubles.
“
The format being what it is, I would probably have played the mixed doubles match
(against Great Britain),
because maybe that match can make the difference, even if we lose the draw, because we have another day
,” Nadal said.
"
I don't think it's good for the competition that we're playing Australia and both of us are knocked out of the tournament.
This will not happen if the country that did not play at the start plays with the loser of the first day.
All the matches are going to have a meaning.
This is the thing that I think needs to be improved in the competition for the future.
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