Rafael Nadal was “destroyed” – and so was Denis Shapovalov’s racket.
The Canadian shattered his racket in disgust after a 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 loss to the legendary Spaniard that took four hours. Shapovalov was still furious over a lengthy seven-minute break between the fourth and fifth set.
“I respect everything that Rafa has done and I think he’s an unbelievable player. But, you know, there’s got to be some boundaries, some rules set,” Shapovalov said. “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.
“I mean, it was a big break after the fourth set for this reason, and the momentum just goes away.”
After losing the third and fourth set, Nadal exited the court for that lengthy period, just adding to Shapovalov’s frustration on a humid night in Melbourne. Nadal then broke in the second game of the set and held on for the quarterfinal victory.
Tensions were high well before that, though. Shapovalov, 22, accused umpire Carlos Bernardes of being “corrupt” early in the second set for not punishing Nadal for taking too much time between points.
“You guys are all corrupt! You guys are all corrupt!” Shapovalov admonished the umpire after demanding that he “code” Nadal, who then exchanged words at the net with his furious opponent.
“I mean, it was a big break after the fourth set for this reason, and the momentum just goes away,” Shapovalov said. “… Every other match that I have played, the pace has been so quick because the refs have been on the clock after every single point. This one, I mean, after the first two sets it was like an hour and a half just because he’s dragged out so much after every single point.
“He’s given so much time in between sets and all this. It’s just dragged out.”
Nadal is now onto the semifinals, where he will face the winner of Mario Berrettini and Gael Monfils. Nadal, 35, is vying for his 21st Grand Slam title, which would break a tie with both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Federer (knee) and Djokovic (deportation) were both not competing in the tournament.
“I was completely destroyed. Tough day. Very warm,” Nadal said. “At the beginning of the match I was playing great (but) Denis is very talented, very aggressive. He was serving huge — especially the second serve.
“I think I had my chances at beginning of the third. I didn’t get it. I started to feel a little bit more tired. For me, it’s amazing to be in the semifinals.”