After losing a marathon five-set encounter against Rafael Ndal on the Rod Laver Arena, Denis Shapovalov didn’t hold back when it came to speaking about the treatment his opponent received during their match.
The Canadian world No.14 was still highly agitated during his press conference following a run-in he had with umpire Carlos Bernardes over the amount of time given to Nadal on court. A heated exchange started during the second set when Shapovalov was serving and he was frustrated by the amount of time Nadal was taking. Under the rules, the server must abide by the service clock timer and the returner must follow the pace of the server.
However, Shapovalov was ready to serve but was unable to as Nadal wasn’t. His frustration grew when Bernardes didn’t give the Spaniard a code violation. Resulting in the Canadian extraordinary calling the umpire ‘corrupt’ before later saying he misspoke.
Shapovalov: “You started the clock like 45 seconds ago and he is not ready to play. You started the clock like so long ago and he is still not ready to play. You’ve gotta code him.”
Bernardes: “Yeah. I code him now, now you are not ready to play?”
Shapovalov: “Code him!”
Bernardes: “For what?”
Shapovalov: “He’s not ready to play!”
Bernardes: “Yeah but you are not ready to play, because you came to talk to me.”
Shapovalov: “Are you kidding me?”
Bernardes: “I’m not kidding you.”
Shapovalov: “You guys are all corrupt! You guys are all corrupt!”
Following their clash, Shapovalov continued to voice his frustration to reporters by saying what Nadal has been allowed to get away with is ‘unfair.’ It is not the first time the 20-time Grand Slam champion has been accused of taking longer between points than what the rule states.
“I think it’s unfair, you know, how much Rafa is getting away with,” he told reporters.
“I’m completely ready to play and the clock is ticking 3, 2, 1, clicking towards zero, and I’m looking at the ump 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.”
At the end of the fourth set Nadal left the court for six-and-a-half minutes to have a medical check and go to the toilet. The Spaniard was experiencing stomach issues during the match and was given medication to help treat the issue.
“The guy goes — and for the same thing last year I wasn’t allowed to take a toilet break when I asked for a medical. He had already taken two medicals,” Shapovalov ranted.
“He was getting medically evaluated, that’s what the ump said after the fourth set, getting medically evaluated, and after the evaluation the guy goes and takes a toilet break.
It’s like, where is the line?”
When questioned by one journalist if Shapovalov thinks his opponent receives preferential treatment due to his status in the sport, he responded ‘100%.’
“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.” Shapovalov said.
“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.”
Rafa responds
Providing his version of the argument, Nadal has hit back at what the 22-year-old said by saying that he believed the umpire acted in a ‘fair way’ given the humid conditions. Nadal and Bernardes haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on the Tour. During the 2015 Rio Open he wasn’t allowed to leave the court by the match official to change his shorts. He ended up covering himself with towels to change his shorts, which he initially put on backwards. That caused a rift between the two.
“I know I took some extra time at the end of the first set because I had to change everything there on the chair, in the changeover. I think honestly in that case normally at the end of the sets the umpire gives you some extra time, especially under these very humid conditions to change the clothes because that’s obvious that you can’t play with the clothes in the condition that I was in.” He argued.
“I think, in my opinion, Denis was wrong in that case. I understand that he just lost the (first) set and in some way he wanted to keep playing quick, but I think he’s gonna understand a little bit later that normally you have some time to change your clothes.”
The 35-year-old says he feels ‘sorry’ for Shapovalov who came back from two sets down to level before getting broken at the start of the decider.
As for the allegation of receiving special treatment, Nadal was quick to dismiss that claim.
“No. Not in that case. I really believe that on the court you don’t deserve better treatment than others and I don’t want it and I don’t feel I have it,” he stated.
“Without a doubt, as everyone knows, I have huge respect for Carlos [Bernardes]. I don’t think that is the case.
“I really believe sometimes it is always in the mind that the top players get bigger advantages and honestly on court that is not true. That is my feeling. I never felt I had advantages on court and really believe he is wrong.”
Nadal now leads Shapovalov 4-1 in their head-to-head.
