January 25, (THEWILL) –Â During their heated quarterfinal match at the Australian Open, Denis Shapovalov unleashed a furious tirade directed at both Rafael Nadal and umpire Carlos Bernardes.
The Canadian, enraged by what he perceived to be the 2009 Melbourne Park champion’s persistent time-wasting, got into a furious exchange with the umpire, accusing him of being “corrupt”.
After losing the first set 6-3, Shapovalov screamed at the umpire for not issuing Nadal a code violation for wasting too much time between points with a 1-0 lead in the second set.
The following is how the exchange between the number 14 seed and the umpire unfolded while Nadal watched from the opposite side of the court, having not been ready to start the game:
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.”
Umpire: “Yeah. I code him now, now you are not ready to play?”
Shapovalov: “Code him!”
Umpire: “For what?”
Shapovalov: “He’s not ready to play!”
Umpire: “Yeah but you are not ready to play, because you came to talk to me.”
Shapovalov: “Are you kidding me?”
Umpire: “I’m not kidding you.”
Shapovalov: “You guys are all corrupt! You guys are all corrupt!”
Another altercation between Shapovalov and the umpire featured Nadal, who was serving at the moment, and this time it was the official who started it after he believed he was being called out again.
Umpire: “What do you want?”
Shapovalov: “What are you looking at?”
Umpire: “You were looking at me; there were eight seconds to play. What do you want? Why are you looking at me like I need to watch the … you have the shot clock. So this … it disturbs me.”
In the sweltering Melbourne heat, Shapovalov and Nadal exchanged words at the net, while the Canadian continued to rant at the official.
The Spaniard went on to win in five sets, 6-3 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-3, to reach the semi-finals for the sixth time in his long career at Melbourne Park.
With a 21st Grand Slam singles triumph, the 35-year-old Nadal hopes to not only win his second title at Melbourne Park this fortnight, but also to pull away from rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
