Rafael Nadal: Mats Wilander suggests 'great champions' deserve 'some slack' after Denis Shapovalov clash

Mats Wilander has suggested “great champions” like Rafael Nadal should be “cut some slack” after his flare-up with Denis Shapovalov. Nadal came through a tough five-set match against Shapovalov to make the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the first time since 2019. Ad/> 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.

Australian OpenBerrettini withstands comeback to beat Monfils and reach semi-finals2 HOURS AGO 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 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. Nadal battles past Shapovalov in five sets 'You guys are all corrupt' — Shapovalov in furious rant Becker backs Shapovalov after Nadal clash “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 realise 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. Instead it is Nadal who will meet seventh seed Matteo Berrettini for a