Article content
It’s an unwritten rule in pro sports that the stars often get the benefit of the doubt, a slight bending of the rules in crucial situations.
Advertisement
Article content
If Sidney Crosby slashes a non-star defenceman across the hand, the referees might turn a blind eye and the let the play go on. If LeBron James takes three steps before shooting the ball, he may not receive the whistle for travelling that a newcomer to the league might get.
Pick a sport and pick a poster boy. It’s not always fair when it comes to fouls, but it’s the nature of the beast.
Which brings us to mercurial Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov, who lost his cool — again — in the course of his thrilling 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 loss to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open quarterfinals Tuesday.
Shapovalov staged an impressive rally from two sets down and was in prime position to knock out Nadal before the ailing 35-year-old gutted out another victory for the ages while keeping alive his pursuit of a record 21 st Grand Slam title.
Advertisement
Article content
But the talking points afterwards were all about Shapovalov and whether he crossed the line in ripping into umpire Carlos Bernardes for giving Nadal too much time to recover between points and sets.
In his post-match comments, Shapovalov apologized for his “you’re all corrupt” line towards Bernardes following the first set, but he still poured a little more fire on what could become a hefty fine.
“Where is the line?,” Shapovalov told reporters in Melbourne. “I respect everything Rafa has done and I think he’s an unbelievable player. But there have 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 so much more.”
Advertisement
Article content
There may have been some merit in the rant — Nadal took a seven-minute break between the fourth and fifth sets when he took some “tablets” to try and calm what he acknowledged was a heat-related ailment — but for a 22-year-old with no Grand Slam titles to call out a legend?
Well, Shapovalov’s reputation as a gunslinger with both his racquet and his mouth isn’t going away anytime soon. While he inches ever closer to the game’s elite players — he lost a tight three-set match to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semifinals last year but rolled over number three seed Alexander Zverev in Australia to reach the showdown with Nadal — he’s still trying to reach that top group himself.
The intriguing question is whether Shapovalov or fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime will assume that position first. Auger-Aliassime has his own shot at reaching the Australian Open semifinals, facing second seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals Wednesday. It’s a rematch of last year’s U.S. Open semifinal, where Medveded won in straight sets.
Advertisement
Article content
Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov are good friends and teamed up to lead Canada past Spain to win the ATP Cup earlier this month, but the former is measured in his style and disposition. He’s more conservative in his court play, attempts fewer big shots and isn’t prone to emotional outbursts. Auger-Aliassime is more deliberate, and interestingly enough, his last opponent, Marin Cilic, had a few words with the officials about his slow pace of play.
Shapovalov’s game, on the other hand, can shift suddenly like his moods, from sunny and sublime to surly and shaky.
After a slow start Tuesday, including a heated exchange with his coach’s box, Shapovalov fought his way through the third set and took his game to another level in the fourth set.
Advertisement
Article content
He was overpowering Nadal with his serve and with crisp groundstrokes on both the backhand and forehand. Nadal, meanwhile, was clearly in pain, failing to run down the balls he would normally chase.
In an on-court interview immediately after the match, he said he felt “destroyed” after losing the fourth set and “starting to feel not very well in my stomach.”
Come the fifth set, though, he found a way to battle through his own serve. He received the one break he needed when Shapovalov had a shaky service game, going up 3-0. From there, Nadal shown his experience, conserving his energy for his own serve. When Nadal closed out the match after a Shapovalov volley sailed wide, Shapovalov smashed his racquet at the net.
Nadal acknowledged that he got lucky when Shapovalov lost his serve early in the fifth set. He also denied that he receives preferential treatment and suggests Shapovalov made a youthful mistake in being so outspoken.
“I don’t think that’s the case,” he said. “I really believe sometimes that it’s always in the mind that top players get bigger advantages. Honestly, on court, it’s not true. That is my feeling.”
While Shapovalov is left wondering about what might have been, Nadal is now preparing for a semifinal date with Matteo Berrettini, who also reached the final four with a five-set win over Gaël Monfils.
kwarren@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/Citizenkwarren
After losing tense match to Nadal, Shapovalov claims the star receives preferential treatment - Ottawa Sun
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment