Rafael Nadal denied he gets preferential treatment from the umpires following claims from Denis Shapovalov, the Spaniard was allowed to take longer breaks than players are usually entitled to.
Shapovalov fell just short of what would have been a career-best win against the 20-time grand slam champion, but pushed Nadal all the way before falling 6-3 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-3 in a five-set epic.
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There were plenty of momentum-shifting moments, including Nadal needing attention for a stomach ailment in the third and fourth sets after dominating the first two.
Shapovalov openly complained to chair umpire Carlos Bernardes during the quarterfinal match about Nadal getting longer breaks than the allotted time, and taking too long between points.
He even accused chair umpire Carlos Bernardes of being “corrupt” during the first set, with the Canadian frustrated over Nadal’s pace of play.
He took a few shots at Nadal in his post-match news conference, too, saying he’s “100 percent” convinced the 35-year-old Spaniard receives special treatment.
At a tournament where he’s clinched the title only once (2009) and had lost seven of his previous 13 quarterfinals — by far his worst conversion rate at any of the four major tournaments — Nadal looked vulnerable in the third and fourth sets.
But following a seven-minute break — when Nadal left the court and went to the locker room — between the last point of the fourth set and his first serve in the fifth, he recovered sufficiently to save a break point with an ace, hold serve and then break Shapovalov for a 2-0 lead.
“I don’t know, was a little bit of miracle,” Nadal said of his revival. “I was destroyed honestly physically. But my serve worked well, and for me, every game that I was winning with my serve was a victory, no?”
The tennis great rejected any assertion that he gets any special treatment from umpires or officials, and added that Shapovalov was young and said he would get over it.
“I really believe that on the court you don’t deserve better treatment than the others,” Nadal added.
“And I really don’t want it and I don’t feel I have it. Without a doubt, even as everybody knows, that I have a huge respect for Carlos, and I think he’s a great umpire. Is not the case that he was always hard with me on court ,no? No, no, I don’t think that’s the case.
“I really believe that sometimes the — it’s always in the mind that the top players get bigger advantages, no, and honestly on court is not true, no? That’s my feeling. I never feel that I had advantages on court, and I really believe that he’s wrong in that case, no?
“If I am not wrong, in the last couple of years we have a clock, we increase the measures to make the things more fair for everyone.
“I honestly feel sorry for him. I think he played a great match for a long time.
“Of course is tough to accept to lose a match like this, especially after I was feeling destroyed and probably he felt that, and then I was able to manage to win.
“I wish him all the very best … probably he will understand later on after he thinks the proper way that probably he was not right today.”
Nadal shares the men’s record of 20 major singles titles with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and he’s got an inside run with the absence of his long-time rivals at Melbourne Park. Federer continues to recover from knee surgery, and Djokovic was deported for failing to meet Australia’s strict COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
“I respect everything that Rafa has done and I think he’s an unbelievable player. But there’s got to be some boundaries,” Shapovalov said during his post-match press conference. “It’s just so frustrating as a player. You feel like you’re not just playing against the player; you’re playing against the umpires, you’re playing against so much more.
“Physically I feel fine. Just emotionally more, just sucks to lose that one,” the Wimbledon semifinalist added. “Definitely felt like I had it on my racket. And towards third, fourth, fifth set I felt like I was the better player, had more chances. Just one bad game for me.”
Nadal will get two days off before Friday’s semifinal match against Matteo Berrettini. The Wimbledon runner-up, who became the first Italian man to reach the Australian Open semifinals, held on to beat No. 17 Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2.
“I’m not 21 anymore!” said Nadal, who was sidelined with injuries after last year’s French Open and then had to overcome COVID-19. “After this … great to have two days off.
“I felt quite good physically in terms of movement. I really believe I’m going to be ready for the semifinals.”
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