United Cup day five as it happened: USA advances; Djokovic beaten; De Minaur beats Nadal

Here’s what’s going down on the United Cup’s courts in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Australia’s Maddison Inglis is facing Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz in Sydney, following on from her teammate’s stunning win. Inglis lost the first set 6-1.

Nadal lost to Australia’s Alex de Minaur, following his United Cup loss to Britain’s Cameron Norrie two days ago.Credit: AP

France’s Alizé Cornet and Croatia’s Donna Vekic are playing their second set in Perth after Croatia sealed the first set 6-4. The two countries will continue to battle it out tomorrow and decide who progresses to Perth’s city final. Arthur Rinderknech for France and Borna Coric for Croatia will face off next.

Daniel Michalski is following up Poland’s earlier victory courtesy of Swiatek, playing against Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Hüsler.

That’s where we’ll leave our live coverage for today after breathtaking wins for Australia from de Minaur in Sydney and Popyrin at the Adelaide International. You can watch all the action live on 9Now. I’m Angus Dalton, thanks for reading, we’ll see you tomorrow.

Iga Swiatek has won for Team Poland against Belinda Bencic, fending off a spirited comeback from the Swiss player who forced the world No. 1 to a tiebreak in the second set.

That’ll put a dent in Switzerland’s lead in Group B ahead of three more games tomorrow that will see Swiatek return in the mixed doubles.

Here’s a diagram showing how the winner of each group will progress to the “city finals” on Wednesday and beyond.

An emotional Alex de Minaur has thanked the crowd who watched him take his first win against 22-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal on the Sydney-born player’s favourite court.

Australia’s Alex de Minaur reacts after winning a point against Spain’s Rafael Nadal.Credit: AP

“Honestly I couldn’t be happier that I managed to get my first win from Rafa on this court, in front of you guys,” he said. “I’m just honoured. It’s a dream come true to be able to beat him on court.”

As the Spaniard ramped up the pressure, the 23-year-old kept things straight with a simple mantra.

“I tried to think as little as possible. I said to myself, ‘see ball, hit ball’.”

De Minaur has done it with four ripper serves and three break points to spare!

The Australian brings down the world No. 2 with a thrilling three-set win, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.

De Minaur bashes back Nadal’s second-fasted serve of the night to land a stunning point that helps earn the Australian three break points.

A return from Nadal goes flying and de Minaur takes the break!

Nadal finishes a quick service game with a dramatic smash, taking the lead 5-4.

De Minaur needs to hold this service game to stay in play.

In Brisbane, Bencic is chasing Swiatek’s lead in the second set. The world No. 1 leads 5-3 on Bencic’s serve.

De Minaur breaks Rafa’s serve to reach 3-2 but Nadal breaks back, equalising at 3-3.

Commentator Jim Courier is wondering if Nadal’s abdominal surgery is affecting his game.

Nadal pulled out of Wimbledon last year due to an injury that required surgery. After withdrawing from a match against Nick Kyrgios he told reporters the injury and operation affected his serve.

“(It) is a tough injury because it’s dangerous, it’s risky. When you have a scar it’s a place that you put a lot of effort when you are serving,” Nadal said at the time.

Here’s a comparison of Nadal’s first-serve ball toss during the Australian Open (in red) compared to what he’s throwing now (in yellow). The range is smaller, suggesting the surgery may have restricted Nadal’s flexibility and reduced his options on first serve as he recovers.

Nadal’s ball toss during the Australian Open (red) and the United Cup (yellow).Credit: Nine

Tearing our eyes away from de Minaur’s comeback for a moment, Polish world No. 1 Iga Swiatek has won her first set against Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic in Brisbane.

Earlier, Lorenzo Musetti defeated Viktor Durasovic 7-6, 6-3 in Brisbane. The Italians need just one more win out of three matches tomorrow to make it to the city final.

France’s Alizé Cornet is preparing to face up against Croatia’s Donna Vekić in Perth. The countries are tied first in Group F.