“I honestly feel sorry for him”: Nadal and Shapovalov in war of words after spicy quarterfinal
Rafael Nadal and rising star Denis Shapovalov have exchanged stern words after the Spaniard triumphed in a heated Australian open quarter-final.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion triumphed over the 22-year-old 6-3 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-3 on centre court on Tuesday afternoon.
In the second set Shapovalov told chair umpire Carlos Bernardes “you guys are all corrupt” when Nadal, who was receiving, went unpenalised as he continued to fuss past the serving clock’s expiry.
The World No. 14’s frustration got the better of him later in the match, as he gestured at Nadal and Bernardes while the clock was still ticking down.
“It’s unfair, how much Rafa is getting away with,” Shapovalov raged in his press conference after the match.
“I’m ready to play, the clock is ticking and I’m looking at the ump… obviously I’m going to speak up.
“And then (the chair umpire) tells me he’s going to give me a code violation because I’m not ready to play.
“It’s a big joke… where is the line?”
“I respect everything that Rafa has done and I think he’s an unbelievable player but there have got to be some boundaries.”
Nadal defended his actions in the first instance, claiming he needed to change his clothes in humid conditions that women’s top seed Ash Barty likened to “Brisbane weather.”
“In that moment, Denis got pissed because the umpire called time and I needed 30 seconds extra to keep changing my clothes,” the Spaniard outlined.
“I think it’s fair Carlos gave me extra time in that moment… he made a small mistake in that he called time, and normally at the end of the set the umpire looks around and waits a little bit."
Nadal, who won his sole Grand Slam singles title in Australia back in 2009 when Shapovalov was nine, rejected the notion that tennis’ best players experience preferential treatment.
“Me personally, or just the top players?” Nadal enquired.
“No, not in that case. I really believe on the court you don’t deserve a better treatment than the others, I really don’t want it and I feel I don’t have it.
“I really believe sometimes it’s always in the mind that the top players get a bigger advantage, and honestly on court it’s not true.
“That is my feeling. I never felt I had advantages on court and really believe he’s wrong.”
Having disagreed with Shapovalov, Nadal went on to empathised with his frustration, as the survivor of a match that ran for four hours and eight minutes.
“I honestly feel sorry for him,” the 35-year-old went on.
“I think he played a great match for a long time, and it’s tough to accept when you lose a match like this. I was feeling destroyed and he probably felt that (too).
“He’s young, and we all make mistakes in our careers. I made a lot of mistakes too when I was younger. He’ll understand later on.”
However, The First Serve host Brett Phillips says Shapovalov captured the mood of his contemporaries when he raged against Nadal’s tactics.
“If Denis had his time back, he mightn’t have used those words,” Phillips told SEN Breakfast.
“In life and in sport, in the heat of the battle there are some things you say (that you regret).
“But he’s only echoing what all the players have thought for a very, very long time.”
“I love Rafael Nadal, I respect him, he has been an incredible athlete to watch up close, the way he conducts himself.
“But he bends every rule in the book. He’s been doing it for years and they’ve never got on top of it, the officials.”
Phillips says it seems the tennis fraternity has given up on bringing the 20-time Grand Slam champion into line.
“So why have a serve clock that sits right in front of you, that counts down from 25 seconds if the chair umpire is not going to enforce the exact time and penalise him?
“You have a minute and a half sit-down, the umpire calls time which means you are up ready to receive the serve, as soon as the server is at the server’s line.
“Rafa will sit there for another 20 or 30 seconds sometimes!
“It’s almost like everyone has got together and said ‘listen, we can’t enforce these rules with Rafa, he’s never going to change, this might just be after he departs the sport.’
“It does slow everything down, and maybe some players have thought ‘I can’t say anything because he’s a legend of the sport.’
“Now, there’s some who are going ‘no, we should be at the same pace every match, why does the pace of everything slow down when you play Rafael Nadal?’”
“There’s things in tennis that need to be tightened up.”
Sixth seed Nadal will on Thursday take on seventh seed Matteo Berrettini, who is the first Italian man to have reached the final four at Melbourne Park.