Rafael Nadal preparing for a “tough battle” against Alex de Minaur and Australian ATP Cup team

Grand slam great Rafael Nadal will spearhead Spain’s ATP Cup hopes but is preparing for a tough start against Australia.

Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal has lavished praise on Australian tyro Alex de Minaur as they prepare for a prime time rematch of last year’s “emotional” ATP Cup cliffhanger.

Spain ended Australia’s 2020 ATP Cup challenge in the semi-finals with a clean sweep of the three rubbers, but de Minaur caught the 20-times grand slam champion’s attention that night.

The 21-year-old shocked Nadal by winning the opening set – the first time he’d won one in their third meeting – before the former world No.1 prevailed 4-6 7-5 6-1.

He came out of that contest confident he was “going in the right direction” against Nadal, who doesn’t remember the clash fondly.

De Minaur is a dual Australian-Spanish citizen who bases himself in Alicante for much of the year.

Rafael Nadal celebrates his three-set victory over Alex de Minaur at last year’s ATP Cup. Picture: Craig Golding/AAP Image

They will play again on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday night, with that match-up of respective No.1s set to be a major factor in which country wins the tie and potentially advances from the group.

“(It was) an emotional match, not great for me, but an emotional one, yes,” Nadal said on Sunday.

“He’s young and improving every year – he has a lot of things (that are) amazing. I think it’ll be a tough battle for all of us playing against a great team like Australia.”

Spain boasts a star-studded team, with top-20 stars Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Carreno Busta the other singles options, while Marcel Granollers is likely to form a doubles pairing with Carreno Busta.

Roberto Bautista Agut gives Spain a second high-quality singles player in the ATP Cup. PIcture: Mark Evans/AAP Image

Bautista Agut leads Australia’s No.2 player John Millman 5-0 head-to-head, while Millman’s beaten Carreno Busta in one of their four matches.

“If I have the chance to play, I will try to do my best. I know that Millman is a really good opportunity,” Carreno Busta said.

“Always when you play against an Australian guy here in Australia, it’s very tough.”

Bautista Agut was caught up in a pre-Australian Open controversy when he described the hard quarantine conditions as “like a jail”, in an interview that was released to Israel’s Sport 5.

He later apologised, saying it was a private conversation that wasn’t supposed to be made public, and on Sunday he was just “happy” to be out and referred to quarantine as “a new experience”.

Stefanos Tsitsipas-led Greece is in the same group as Australia and Spain.