San Antonio Express-News

Nadal prevails in five sets

- By Christophe­r Clarey

MELBOURNE, Australia — After missing the game he long has played with such passion, Rafael Nadal has had ample opportunit­y to get reacquaint­ed with tennis at this Australian Open.

At age 35, his latest comeback from injury now finds him in the semifinals, just two victories from breaking his three-way tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer and claiming his 21st Grand Slam singles title.

But it also briefly found him on the defensive Tuesday after his opponent, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, said Nadal had benefited from favoritism in their quarterfin­al, which Nadal won by taking command of the fifth set to prevail 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, in 4 hours and 8 minutes.

Shapovalov didn’t take the defeat well, smashing his racket to the blue hardcourt in Rod Laver Arena immediatel­y after his final volley drifted wide. It was a stark contrast with Nadal, who has never broken (or thrown) a racket in anger during a match in his nearly 20-year profession­al career.

But Shapovalov was both crestfalle­n and disappoint­ed with Nadal, the Spanish champion whom Shapovalov first met as a 9-year-old ball boy during the Canadian Open in Montreal and then defeated, Hollywoods­tyle, in the same city in their first match in 2017.

However wide-eyed Shapovalov once might have been about the Spaniard, he did not hold back Tuesday: complainin­g during and after the match that Nadal was being allowed more time between points than permitted.

After winning the first set, Nadal changed his clothes and was slow to leave his chair after umpire Carlos Bernardes called

“Time.” Shapovalov took the balls and waited to serve, and when Nadal finally made it on court, Shapovalov approached Bernardes and said Nadal should have been penalized for the delay.

Shapovalov later said, “You guys are all corrupt” to Bernardes before serving.

The 22-year-old got no code violation for the comment and later said, apologetic­ally, “I think I misspoke.” But he also complained during the match that Nadal was stretching the spirit of the rules by taking an extended break before the final set for a combined medical timeout and toilet trip.

He quizzed Bernardes at length as they awaited Nadal’s return, saying he hadn’t been allowed to combine the two at a past tournament.

Shapovalov repeated his accusation­s of favoritism in a news conference after his defeat.

“They are legends of the game,” he said of stars like Nadal, “but when you step on the court it should be equal.”

Bernardes, a veteran chair umpire from Brazil, did give Nadal a time violation for taking too long before serving in the fourth set. Ironically, Bernardes was kept from working Nadal’s matches during a cooling-off period after they clashed in 2015. But that informal ban soon ended.

Nadal rejected Shapovalov’s accusation­s of favoritism and said it was standard practice to take a bit more time to change clothes and equipment after a set played in such steamy conditions.

“I think he really was

wrong,” Nadal said in Spanish of Shapovalov. “When you lose a match like this, you are frustrated. I have a lot of affection for Denis. I think he’s a good guy with lots of talent, the talent to win multiple Grand Slams. In no way do I want to get in an argument with him. But I think he’s wrong. He’s young and when one is young, one makes mistakes.”

Nadal observed that the rules had been tightened in recent seasons to make it harder to show favoritism to any player because of the advent of electronic linecallin­g, shot clocks between points and, this season, stricter time limits on toilet breaks.

“You have less room now to influence anything,” said Nadal, who added that he wasn’t interested in getting an advantage on court.

 ?? Clive Brunskill / Getty Images ?? Rafael Nadal is two wins from a record 21st Grand Slam title after outlasting Denis Shapovalov, who accused tournament officials of favoring the Spaniard.
Clive Brunskill / Getty Images Rafael Nadal is two wins from a record 21st Grand Slam title after outlasting Denis Shapovalov, who accused tournament officials of favoring the Spaniard.

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