Australian Open: ‘you guys are all corrupt’ says Denis Shapovalov in extraordinary on court outburst, as Nadal survives taxing five-set thriller

Rafael Nadal moved to within two matches of a record 21st grand slam title, after a tense five-set win over Canadian Denis Shapovalov at the Australian Open quarter-finals.

The Spanish fifth seed edged out 14th seed Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 over an epic 4 hours and 8 minutes on Rod Laver Arena to advance to his seventh semi-final in Melbourne where he will face either Matteo Berrettini or Gael Monfils.

Nadal is tied for the most major singles titles by a male player with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, but with Djokovic forced home by deportation over vaccination issues and Federer injured, the opportunity is there for him to make history.

“For me it’s everything to be able to play here one more time in the Rod Laver Arena in a semi-finals match, so I’m just excited and happy, I can’t thank everyone enough,” Nadal said in a post-match interview.

The four-hour match was not short on drama. Nadal opened with a dominant two-set lead but needed several medical timeouts, allowing Shapovalov to regain form and level. At one point Shapovalov accused court umpire Carlos Bernardes of “corruption” and Nadal of wasting time.