MELBOURNE, Australia — After lacking the sport he has lengthy performed with such ardour, Rafael Nadal has had ample alternative to get reacquainted with tennis at this Australian Open.

At age 35, his newest comeback from damage now finds him within the semifinals, simply two victories from breaking his three-way tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer and claiming his 21st Grand Slam singles title.

But it additionally briefly discovered him on the defensive Tuesday after his opponent, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, stated Nadal had benefited from favoritism of their quarterfinal, which Nadal gained by taking command of the fifth set to prevail, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, in 4 hours and eight minutes.

Nadal politely rejected the accusations by Shapovalov, a younger Canadian. “I think he is wrong,” Nadal stated.

Shapovalov, who actually didn’t assist his trigger by taking part in an edgy, error-filled recreation to drop his serve early within the fifth set, didn’t take the defeat effectively, smashing his racket to the blue hardcourt in Rod Laver Arena instantly after his remaining volley drifted broad. It was a stark distinction with Nadal, who has by no means damaged a racket in anger throughout a match in his almost 20-year skilled profession.

But Shapovalov was each crestfallen and disillusioned with Nadal, the Spanish champion whom Shapovalov first met as a nine-year-old ball boy in the course of the Canadian Open in Montreal and then defeated, Hollywood-style, in the identical metropolis of their first match in 2017.

However wide-eyed Shapovalov may as soon as have been concerning the Spaniard, he didn’t maintain again on Tuesday: complaining throughout and after the match that Nadal was being allowed extra time between factors than permitted.

After successful the primary set, Nadal modified his garments and was sluggish to go away his chair after the umpire, Carlos Bernardes, known as “Time.” Shapovalov took the balls and ready to function he waited, and when Nadal lastly made it on courtroom about 45 seconds after Bernardes’s announcement, Shapovalov approached Bernardes and stated Nadal ought to have been penalized for the delay.

Bernardes didn’t agree, and Shapovalov returned to the baseline and then approached Bernardes once more, saying Nadal nonetheless was not prepared. Bernardes answered: “You’re not ready to play either because you come talk to me.”

“Are you kidding me?” Shapovalov stated as he retreated. “You guys are all corrupt.”

Shapovalov, 22, acquired no code violation for the remark, though he may very well be fined or sanctioned by the Australian Open after additional inquiry. Shapovalov later stated, apologetically, “I think I misspoke.” He was concerned in one other change with Bernardes as Nadal ready to serve the second recreation of the second set though there have been nonetheless a number of seconds on the serve clock. Nadal got here towards the web. Shapovalov met him there and after a quick change play resumed.

“It was nothing against Rafa,” Shapovalov stated. “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.”

But Shapovalov was not finished complaining about Nadal, arguing with Bernardes after the fourth set that Nadal, who had been examined briefly on courtroom for abdomen issues, was stretching the spirit of the principles by taking an prolonged break off courtroom earlier than the ultimate set for a mixed medical analysis and bathroom go to.

Nadal defined later that he started feeling poorly late within the second set, most definitely as a result of of the new, humid climate and his lengthy break from the sport. He returned to the tour this 12 months after lacking 5 months with a power foot drawback and then contracted Covid-19 in late December at an exhibition in Abu Dhabi. He is seeded sixth in Melbourne, the place he gained the title in 2009.

Shapovalov quizzed Bernardes at size as they awaited Nadal’s return, saying that he had not been allowed to mix the 2 breaks at a previous event. Nadal served seven minutes after the fourth set had been accomplished.

Asked at a post-match information convention if Nadal acquired preferential remedy, Shapovalov answered “100 percent he does” and stated there wanted to be boundaries.

“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 stated. “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.”

Players are allowed 25 seconds between factors when serving however chair umpires have discretion on when to begin the shot clock. When returning serve, gamers are anticipated to play to the server’s “reasonable pace,” a phrase within the tennis rule ebook that leaves lots of room for interpretation.

“I respect everything that Rafa has done and I think he’s an unbelievable player,” Shapovalov stated. “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. I mean, it was a big break after the fourth set and for this reason the momentum just goes away.”

“They are legends of the game,” Shapovalov stated of stars like Nadal, “but when you step on the court it should be equal.”

Bernardes, a veteran chair umpire from Brazil, did give Nadal a time violation for taking too lengthy earlier than serving within the fourth set. Bernardes and Nadal have not always been in agreement, and Bernardes was saved from working Nadal’s matches throughout a cooling-off interval in 2015. But that casual ban quickly ended.

Nadal rejected Shapovalov’s accusations of favoritism and stated it was commonplace observe to take a bit extra time to alter garments and gear after a set performed in such steamy situations.

“I think he really was wrong,” Nadal stated in Spanish of Shapovalov. “When you lose a match like this, you are frustrated. I have a lot of affection for Denis. I think he’s a good guy with lots of talent, the talent to win multiple Grand Slams. In no way do I want to get in an argument with him. But I think he’s wrong. He’s young and when one is young, one makes mistakes.”

Nadal noticed that the principles had been tightened in current seasons to make it more durable to point out favoritism to the elite or any participant as a result of of the arrival of digital line-calling, shot clocks between factors and, this season, stricter closing dates on bathroom breaks.

“You have less room now to influence anything,” stated Nadal, who added that he was not curious about getting a bonus on courtroom.

“I really believe that on the court you don’t deserve better treatment than the others,” Nadal stated. “And I really don’t want it, and I don’t feel I have it.”

Nadal was typically removed from his finest within the second half of Tuesday’s match: lacking some of his acquainted forehand passing pictures on the run by giant margins. He additionally had 11 double faults, a big quantity by his requirements. But he was capable of serve effectively when he wanted it most, together with arising with an ace to save lots of a break level within the opening recreation of the fifth set and saving two extra break factors within the third recreation.

“I was destroyed honestly, physically, but my serve worked well,” Nadal stated. “For me, every game that I was winning with my serve was a victory.”

He bought the general victory, too, and will now have two full days to recuperate earlier than dealing with No. 7 seed Matteo Berrettini or No. 17 seed Gaël Monfils within the semifinals on Friday afternoon. Nadal often prefers to play within the daytime, the place situations are usually faster and assist his topspin forehand penetrate the courtroom. But he seemed as if he would have been delighted to play within the shade in opposition to Shapovalov.

“I’m not 21 anymore,” Nadal stated wearily in his post-match interview on courtroom.

But 21 may nonetheless be his magic quantity in Melbourne, the place he’s simply two matches away from breaking a tie.