Rafael Nadal has fought his way out of many a tight corner in his storied career, but rarely has he been forced to wage war on so many fronts.
From vicious lefty serves and venomous forehands to accusations of time-wasting and preferential treatment, Denis Shapovalov threw everything at the Spaniard over the four hours and eight minutes of their dramatic Australian Open showdown. And that wasn’t the half of it. Nadal also had to contend with a stomach issue that required medication in the fourth set. He suffered an uncharacteristic attack of the Sabalenkas, serving a career-high 11 double faults. And throughout, lurking in the background, was the spectre of a second successive quarter-final defeat at Melbourne Park from two sets to love up, following last year’s loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The 35-year-old was equal to it all. Seizing control of the fifth set, Nadal prevailed 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 to move within two wins of a record 21st grand slam title, only weeks after it seemed the deformed scaphoid that has plagued him since he was a child might force him out of the game permanently. He will face Matteo Berrettini in Friday’s semi-finals after the Italian seventh seed beat Gael Monfils in another five-set thriller, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2. Win or lose, it will not change the fact that the man is a marvel.
“It was a little bit of a miracle,” said Nadal, who clung on to his serve with dogged determination after breaking in the second game of the decider. “I was destroyed, honestly, physically. But my serve worked well and, for me, every game that I was winning with my serve [in the fifth set] was a victory.”
The final moments were a study in contrasts, Nadal pushing for the line with stony-faced resolve as Shapovalov raged at his every misstep, beating his racket in fury and finally obliterating it entirely when a final despairing volley limped wide. At that point, Nadal turned to his box in delight, a broad grin on his face as he pumped his fists gingerly, no doubt draining whatever scant reserves of energy remained in his battle-weary body.
Shapovalov’s frustration began to take root as early as the fourth game, when he hit three wayward forehands in a row to concede an early break. With the Canadian making just 50% of his first serves, and Nadal adopting an aggressive return position on the second ball, the early stages were rarely comfortable for the 14th seed. To add to his discomfiture, Nadal was landing his own first delivery with unerring regularity, enabling him to dominate the baseline exchanges with forehands of lacerating power. By the end of the first set, Shapovalov’s emotions had reached boiling point.
Irked by the length of time his opponent was taking at the change of ends, Shapovalov, who was waiting to serve, completely lost the plot as Nadal strode out only to make for the back of the court, rather than getting ready to receive immediately. Carlos Bernardes, the chair umpire, felt the brunt of the 22-year-old’s wrath.
“You started the clock so long ago, you gotta code him,” said Shapovalov, appealing for a time violation before walking back to the baseline. “He’s not ready to play.”
“You’re not ready to play either, because you came to talk me,” replied Bernardes.
“Are you kidding me?” stormed Shapovalov. “You guys are all corrupt.”
Shapovalov, who is likely to receive a fine for his troubles, later apologised for the outburst. But he remained adamant that Nadal’s status in the game earns him too much leeway with officials. “I think I misspoke when I said he’s corrupt,” said the world No 14. “It’s definitely emotional, but I do stand by my side. I think it’s unfair, how much Rafa is getting away with.
“I mean, I’m completely ready to play and the clock is ticking three, two, one, clicking towards zero, and I’m looking at the umpire. 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.”
Nadal, for his part, appeared bemused. He later explained that the delay was down to him changing his clothes in the searingly hot conditions.
“I didn’t understand what was going on in that moment,” said the sixth-seeded Spaniard. “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 sets, the umpire gives you some extra time, especially under these very humid conditions, to change clothes.”
There was further controversy a game later when Nadal began his service routine only to look up and see his opponent gesturing towards Bernardes. This time the source of Shapovaolov’s chagrin was the Brazilian official himself, who was looking in his direction, rather than at the server.
“What are you looking at?” Shapovalov enquired – an oddly confrontational choice of words in the middle of a tennis match, albeit one that seemed strangely apt in the highly charged atmosphere. As the clearly irritated Bernardes pointed out, there were eight seconds left on the shot clock, so there was no question of slow play on Nadal’s part.
Amid the confusion, Nadal approached the net and spoke to Shapovalov before play continued.
“It was nothing against Rafa,” Shapovalov later explained. “Rafa was serving and I would expect the umpire to be looking at Rafa, and the umpire was staring me down. It didn’t make sense to me.
“I felt like there was some feud or something. I looked at him, you know. I was just explaining that to Rafa, that it had nothing to do with him.”
A gifted shot-maker capable of conjuring winners from anywhere on the court, Shapovalov has struggled so far in his young career to translate his formidable talents into appearances at the business end of majors. Incidents like this are unlikely to help. Last summer’s run to the Wimbledon semi-finals, where he started strongly against Novak Djokovic only to fall in three close sets, remains Shapovalov’s best showing to date. Djokovic’s performance that day – when he never at his best, but raised his level at the key moments – was an object lesson in the importance of a stable temperament, a trait every great champion must possess. Clearly Shapovalov has yet to absorb it. Facing another straight-sets defeat here, he played some brilliant tennis to prolong his interest in the contest. But ultimately he contributed to his own downfall, complaining about Nadal’s six and a half minute absence from the court at the end of the fourth set – first for a medical evaluation, then for a toilet break – when he would have been better off conserving his mental and emotional energy for the battle ahead.
“He was getting medically evaluated, that’s what the umpire said after the fourth set, and after the evaluation the guy goes and takes a toilet break,” Shapovalov complained. “It’s like, where is the line? Where are you going to step on the players and say, ‘Okay’.
“I respect everything that Rafa has done, and I think he’s an unbelievable player. But there’s got to be some boundaries, some rules set. It’s just so frustrating as a player.
“You feel like you’re not just playing against the player – you’re playing against the umpires, you’re playing against so much more. It’s difficult. It was a big break after the fourth set for this reason, and the momentum just goes away. It’s much more difficult to play.”
Yet Nadal too had external factors to contend with. He lost the fourth set on a single break of serve that came when Bernardes, an umpire with whom he has history, warned him for a time violation as he faced a break point at 1-2, 30-40. A double fault followed, and it was at the next change of ends that Nadal called the trainer to seek relief for his ailing stomach. As the problems piled up, he never sought excuses or succumbed to self-pity. How Shapovalov could benefit from such resilience.
Asked afterwards if he felt Nadal received special treatment, Shapovalov offered an emphatic response. “Of course. 100% he does. 100%,” said the Canadian. “He’s given so much time in between sets and all this. It’s just dragged out.”
Nadal gave the suggestion short shrift. “I really believe that he’s wrong,” he said. “I honestly feel sorry for him. I think he played a great match for a long time.
“Of course, it is tough to accept losing a match like this, especially after I was feeling destroyed –probably he felt that – and then I was able to manage to win the match. I wish him all the very best.
“He’s young, and everybody, I think we all make mistakes on our careers. I made a lot of mistakes too when I was younger. Probably he will understand later on, after he thinks the proper way, that probably he was not right today.”
Nadal, who now has two days to recover before a semi-final showdown with Berrettini, continues to do an awful lot right.