Rafael Nadal has denied to Denis Shapovalov’s comments about his timing in the quarter-finals at the 2022 Australian Open.
Shapovalov was unhappy with the amount of time he thought Nadal was taking between points and twice complained to umpire Carlos Bernardes. The 22-year-old tennis player believes that the referee has favoured the opponent.
“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,” Nadal said.
“It’s obvious you can’t play with the clothes in the condition that I was. After that, I was going through all the rules.” Nadal added.
The Spaniard overcame illness to beat Denis Shapovalov in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, holding his serve to see off the Canadian talent in five sets.
After four hours, Nadal rose to win 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 and reach his seventh semi-final at Australian Open.
However, Nadal denied once again assertion that he gets any special treatment from umpires or referees, and added that Shapovalov was young and said he would get over it.
“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.” Nadal said.
“When I went to the bathroom at the end of the second set, as I don’t know if you know, guys, we have a new rule for this year, normally I think was Stefanos, was not on the tour but that’s what I heard that Stefanos take a very long time last year a couple of times.” Nadal said.
“So the new rule is when we go to the toilet, they call, we have just a couple of minutes to stay in the toilet.” Nadal added.
