Canadian tennis player, Shapovalov accused an Australian Open umpire of deliberately favouring Rafael Nadal during their quarter-final match
By Kehinde Okeowo
Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov caused a dramatic moment in this year’s Australian Open when he openly accused the umpire officiating his quarterfinal match against 6th seed Rafael Nadal, of favouritism, he also labelled him as a “corrupt.” official.
The 22-year-old pulled off one of the biggest victories of his career over third seed Alexander Zverev in the fourth round to reach his third slam quarter-final against Rafael Nadal in three straight sets.
Shapovalov was, however, unable to find the same form in the opening set of the quarter-final against Nadal, prompting him to show frustration and get into a row with umpire Carlos Bernardes, accusing him of allowing the Spaniard to get away with time violations.
He said, “You started the clock so long ago, and [Nadal is] still not ready to play,” he then approached Bernardes after dropping 3-6 in the first set and said. “You’ve got to code him.”
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As he was preparing to serve, Bernardes appeared to hold the game, to which Shapovalov said, “[Nadal is] is not ready to play.”
The umpire responded, suggesting he was not ready to play after approaching him. Shapovalov fired back: “Are you kidding me? You guys are all corrupt.”
This did not distract Nadal, who moved into a two-set lead, but Shapovalov began to turn the tide in the third set and clinched it with a backhand winner after his opponent was given a time violation
Raphael Nadal eventually advanced to the semifinals of the competition after a 6-3, 6-4, 4-6-3-6, 6-3 grueling five-set victory over Shapovalov.
After the match, the Canadian clarified his remarks, saying he “misspoke” on the game officials but stood by his claim that Nadal was deliberately wasting time.
“I misspoke when I said he’s corrupt or whatever I said,” he said after the match, via Reuters. “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.”
Denis Shapovalov was ranked as high as 10th in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in September 2020.
He is the third highest-ranked Canadian player in the history of the game coming behind Félix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic.