Wilander suggests Nadal receives special treatment during matches due to his champion status

Denis Shapovalov got into a heated exchange with the umpire during his Australian Open quarterfinal against Rafael Nadal, with the Canadian upset that the former World No.1 was receiving special treatment.

Shapovalov was left angered by the time that Nadal was taking between points and yelled at umpire Carlos Bernardes for not handing him a code violation. He accused the umpire of being “corrupt” and exchanged heated words with Nadal at the net.

While Shapovalov said in his post-match press conference that he misspoke when he used the term “corrupt”, he did intimate that top players receive special treatment.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander suggested that might be the case, but Shapovalov should try to focus on his own game.

“Rafa plays on Rod Laver Arena because he deserves to be there,” said Wilander on Eurosport. “And I don’t think there’s any way you are not going to give the great champions some slack at some points. It’s part of our sport a bit, it’s not fair.

“Rafa deserves a bit of that if it’s not fair, but Denis will realize that you need a bit more time. Denis most probably needs to go onto the court and think ‘what will not make me irritated? That’s right, Rafa taking too long, that cannot interfere with my brain’.”

Shapovalov roared back from two sets down to force a decider against Nadal, but couldn’t claim a famous victory. The 20-time Grand Slam champion will continue his quest for No.21 when he takes on Matteo Berrettini in the semifinals.