Rafael Nadal crushed the hopes and dreams of Denis Shapovalov in a five-set thriller in the quarterfinals in Melbourne. The Spaniard was in cruise control in the first two sets and took a commanding two sets to love lead. However, the young Canadian didn’t back down and he fought his way through to event things up. It should be noted that there was some drama going on throughout the match.
Denis Shapovalov Calls Chair Umpire Corrupt
As we all know Nadal always takes his sweet time either when he is preparing to serve or getting ready to receive. He has gotten away with this and Denis was not happy about that. When the Spaniard won the first set, he changed his clothes and was very slow to get ready for action. The umpire had called “Time” and Nadal took around 40 seconds to get himself ready. Shapovalov went to talk to the chair umpire and said that Rafa should’ve been penalized for the delay.
The chair umpire, Carlos Bernardes, did not agree and Denis went back to talk to him, and the umpire said, “You’re not ready to play either because you come talk to me.” That’s when Denis responded as he was leaving to serve, “Are you kidding me? You guys are all corrupt.” Nadal used his tactics in his favor and took around seven minutes after the fourth set had finish to sere for the fifth set. He took a medical evaluation and a toilet break.
Denis Lost His Momentum
After winning the fourth set, Shapovalov had to wait for Nadal to get back to court and did not look the same after that. Nadal saved a break point with an ace, hold his serve, and then broke Shapovalov for a two love lead in the final set. The Spanish legend didn’t look back after that and took a commanding lead in which eventually saw him winning the match in a five-set thriller. Denis did not look like himself from the previous two sets and was clearly not in his zone. Despite losing this incredible match Shapovalov displayed some incredible tennis and can build on this in the future.
Nadal Awaits Berrettini
They have met just once, at the 2019 US Open semifinals, and Nadal took the match in straight sets. Now, things are way different, and the Italian has raised his level and will be a difficult match for Nadal. All in all, it looks like it will be a top level match between both great players.
Main Photo from Getty.
