'Corrupt' claims at umpire over Rafael Nadal time-wasting at Australian Open 'wrong, strange' - Alex Corretja

Alex Corretja has backed Rafael Nadal and the umpire after Denis Shapovalov's angry rant during their fiery quarter-final at the Australian Open. Absolutely livid at what he felt was the 2009 champion at Melbourne Park's constant time-wasting, the Canadian flew into an angry exchange with the umpire where he accused the official of being «corrupt». Ad/> With a 1-0 lead in the second set, before going on to later lose the match, Shapovalov yelled at the umpire for not handing Nadal a code violation for taking too much time between points.

Australian OpenBarty in a hurry, Kokkinakis-Kyrgios turn up heat & a good omen for Sinner? — AO Diary19 HOURS AGO Eurosport expert Corretja has responded by saying that he feels the 22-year-old was «wrong» with his «strange» reaction to the apparent rule-breaking from his Spanish compatriot. «It is strange that he [Shapovalov] says that about Rafa when, for me, he is one of the most respectful players with his rivals, and I think he is also wrong about treatment in his favour,» Corretja told Eurosport Spain. «With Rafa, they [the umpires] are also always very attentive and alert him that he has to play faster.

At the time, at the beginning of the second set, I think Shapovalov was a little tense. He started looking at the clock, and he saw that Rafa was not ready when he was playing very fast, and I think he wanted to speed up his pace. »He is wrong, saying that he [the umpire] is corrupt, and saying that he gives a 100% favourable treatment [to Nadal].

I think that Shapovalov has got it wrong, beyond the fact that I love the way he plays. «I think that an opportunity has escaped him, and he has also felt that. In my opinion, his frustration later in the press conference came from that.»