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Canada’s Denis Shapovalov has accused the Australian Open officials for giving unfair advantage to his quarter-final opponent Rafael Nadal. Shapovalov went down to the Spanish veteran in the decider set. Being two set down, the Canadian fought back winning two sets straight to eventually lose the game in the final set. Nadal progressed to his 36th Grand Slam with a 6-3 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-3 win on Rod Laver Arena.
Canadian tennis explains calling chair umpire “corrupt”
“I misspoke when I said he’s corrupt or whatever I said,” Shapovalov clarified after the match. “It’s definitely emotional but I do stand by my side. I think it’s unfair, you know, how much Rafa is getting away with. There’s got to be some boundaries, some rules set. It’s just so frustrating as a player. You know, 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’m not trying to take away anything they’ve done, of course, they’re great champions, they’re the legends of the game. But at the end of the day, when you step on the court it should be equal for everyone,” he added.
Shapovalov was unhappy with the amount of time he thought Nadal was taking between points and twice complained to umpire Carlos Bernardes.
“I'm completely ready to play and the clock is ticking 3, 2, 1, clicking towards zero.”
“I'm looking at the umpire and obviously I'm going to speak up and say something.”
“I've been ready to play for a minute and a half, and he tells me he's not going to give him a code violation because I'm not ready to play. To me, it's a big joke if somebody says that,” the 22-year-old Candian said.
Players are allowed 25 seconds between points and two minutes between sets and all of this is timed by a shot clock.
Replying to the accusations made by the Canadian youngster, Nadal said, “It’s always in the mind that the top players get bigger advantages.”
“and honestly on court (it) is not true… I never feel that I had advantages on court, and I really believe that he’s wrong in that case.
“I really believe that on the court you don’t deserve better treatment than the others. And I really don’t want it and I don’t feel I have it.
“I think he played a great match for a long time. I wish him all the very best… I make a lot of mistakes too when I was younger, and probably he will understand later on after he thinks the proper way that probably he was not right today,” the Spaniard added..
Nadal will now plav the semi-finals against seventh seeded Matteo Berrettini. The Italian defeated Gael Monfils 6-4 6-4 3-6 3-6 6-2 in the quarter-final clash.
