With the French Open due to start a week on Monday, the loss marks another significant setback for Nadal, who has only just returned from a six-week layoff after fracturing a rib in Indian Wells. The Spaniard, who was beaten by teenage compatriot Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals of last week’s Madrid Open, had been desperate to reacquire the rhythm of regular match play. Now he will travel to Paris with just five competitive outings on clay under his belt, short of form and fitness, and facing renewed uncertainty over whether the damaged bone in his left foot, which forced him to miss the second half of last season, will withstand the rigours of five-set competition.

“I am not injured, I am a player living with an injury,” said Nadal, who had not lost in the last 16 of a Masters event since Shapovalov beat him five years ago in Montreal. “That’s it. It’s nothing new. It’s something that is there.  

“Unfortunately, my day-by-day is difficult. Even like this, I am trying hard. Of course, it’s difficult for me to accept the situation sometimes. It can be frustrating that, [on] a lot of days, I can’t practice the proper way. Today, half [way through] the second set, starts the thing – then [it] wasn’t playable for me.”

The closing stages made for painful viewing, with Nadal repeatedly wincing and gesturing to his box. After one particularly testing baseline exchange left him hobbling, he leaned over a courtside chair, staring down intently for interminable seconds. He looked for all the world as though he was contemplating his tennis mortality, a scenario that looked a long way off when he began the season with a 20-match unbeaten streak that included a record 21st grand slam title at January’s Australian Open.

“I imagine there will come a time when my head will say, ‘Enough,’” Nadal, the third seed, later told reporters in Spanish. “Pain takes away your happiness, not only in tennis but in life. And my problem is that many days I live with too much pain.”

It will come as scant consolation to Nadal that, but for a pivotal hold by Shapovalov at the start of the second set, he might have reached the sanctuary of the locker room before the problem took hold. With the Canadian world No 16 struggling to find rhythm and consistency, Nadal swept through the opener before spearing a backhand pass to bring up an early break point. It was at this stage that Shapovalov, searching for solutions, adopted a wider serving position, swinging his southpaw serve wide to the Nadal forehand and charging into the net. 

It was not the most penetrating of deliveries and, as the ball hung in the night air with a yawning gap beckoning down the line, only one outcome seemed likely. But what Shapovalov’s serve lacked in weight, it made up for in breadth. The confines of the Foro Italico’s Court Centrale are unusually narrow and, as Nadal moved to his left, he ran out of space, sending his return into the net and scraping his elbow against a courtside flower box.

It seemed an innocuous moment at the time, a fleeting blip in a match otherwise dominated by the Majorcan. But when Shapovalov went on to save a second break point with an ace, and a third with a mishit forehand that drew a rueful smile from Nadal, it began to acquire retrospective significance. Shapovalov completed a battling 11-minute hold, Nadal made four unforced errors to drop serve for the first time, and the momentum shifted abruptly towards the Canadian. Nadal had won just four out of the previous 17 points by the time he finally steadied the ship to get on the second-set scoreboard at 1-3, and although Shapovalov gifted him a break back in an error-strewn seventh game, the defending champion continued to look unexpectedly vulnerable.

“He was outplaying me in the first set,” said Shapovalov, for whom the win offered a measure of payback following narrow defeats to Nadal in Rome last year, when he twice held match point, and in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park. 

“Especially the first set, beginning of the second set, he was just dominating me, playing super solid. I didn’t change much. I just tried to hang in there. I kind of freed up after I won the service game, the first service game, in the second set. I was able to free up and play loosely from then on, elevated my game a little bit. He threw in a couple mistakes.”

The timing of Nadal’s errors proved particularly costly. He flirted with danger in the eighth game, fending off break points with an uncharacteristically tentative approach to the net and a brilliant second serve into the body, and again looked nervous as he rallied to see off a set point in the 10th game. That proved the prelude to a more alarming display of anxiety as he served to stay in the set for a second time at 5-6. The second of two double faults handed Shapovalov another chance to level the match, and this time a Nadal backhand flew long. The 23-year-old was on his way.

“Today is tough for me,” said Nadal, who reserved generous praise for Shapovalov’s performance. “I started the season great, then the rib happened.  Since I came back, the foot has been tough, being honest. It’s tough for me to be able to practice the proper way [for several] days in a row.

“During the French Open, Roland Garros, I am going to have my doctor there with me. That sometime helps, because you can do things. But I don’t know. I am just sad, obviously, today. As everybody knows, it is a tournament that I like a lot. To be out is something that I don’t like.”

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From vicious lefty serves and venomous forehands to accusations of time-wasting and preferential treatment, Denis Shapovalov threw everything at the Spaniard over the four hours and eight minutes of their dramatic Australian Open showdown. And that wasn’t the half of it. Nadal also had to contend with a stomach issue that required medication in the fourth set. He suffered an uncharacteristic attack of the Sabalenkas, serving a career-high 11 double faults. And throughout, lurking in the background, was the spectre of a second successive quarter-final defeat at Melbourne Park from two sets to love up, following last year’s loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The 35-year-old was equal to it all. Seizing control of the fifth set, Nadal prevailed 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 to move within two wins of a record 21st grand slam title, only weeks after it seemed the deformed scaphoid that has plagued him since he was a child might force him out of the game permanently. He will face Matteo Berrettini in Friday’s semi-finals after the Italian seventh seed beat Gael Monfils in another five-set thriller, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2. Win or lose, it will not change the fact that the man is a marvel.

“It was a little bit of a miracle,” said Nadal, who clung on to his serve with dogged determination after breaking in the second game of the decider. “I was destroyed, honestly, physically. But my serve worked well and, for me, every game that I was winning with my serve [in the fifth set] was a victory.”

The final moments were a study in contrasts, Nadal pushing for the line with stony-faced resolve as Shapovalov raged at his every misstep, beating his racket in fury and finally obliterating it entirely when a final despairing volley limped wide. At that point, Nadal turned to his box in delight, a broad grin on his face as he pumped his fists gingerly, no doubt draining whatever scant reserves of energy remained in his battle-weary body. 

Shapovalov’s frustration began to take root as early as the fourth game, when he hit three wayward forehands in a row to concede an early break. With the Canadian making just 50% of his first serves, and Nadal adopting an aggressive return position on the second ball, the early stages were rarely comfortable for the 14th seed. To add to his discomfiture, Nadal was landing his own first delivery with unerring regularity, enabling him to dominate the baseline exchanges with forehands of lacerating power. By the end of the first set, Shapovalov’s emotions had reached boiling point.

Irked by the length of time his opponent was taking at the change of ends, Shapovalov, who was waiting to serve, completely lost the plot as Nadal strode out only to make for the back of the court, rather than getting ready to receive immediately. Carlos Bernardes, the chair umpire, felt the brunt of the 22-year-old’s wrath. 

“You started the clock so long ago, you gotta code him,” said Shapovalov, appealing for a time violation before walking back to the baseline. “He’s not ready to play.” 

“You’re not ready to play either, because you came to talk me,” replied Bernardes.

“Are you kidding me?” stormed Shapovalov. “You guys are all corrupt.”

Shapovalov, who is likely to receive a fine for his troubles, later apologised for the outburst. But he remained adamant that Nadal’s status in the game earns him too much leeway with officials. “I think I misspoke when I said he’s corrupt,” said the world No 14. “It’s definitely emotional, but I do stand by my side. I think it’s unfair, how much Rafa is getting away with. 

“I mean, I’m completely ready to play and the clock is ticking three, two, one, clicking towards zero, and I’m looking at the umpire. Obviously I’m going to speak up and say something. I’ve been ready to play for a minute and a half, and he tells me he’s not going to give him a code violation because I’m not ready to play. To me, it’s a big joke if somebody says that.”

Nadal, for his part, appeared bemused. He later explained that the delay was down to him changing his clothes in the searingly hot conditions.

“I didn’t understand what was going on in that moment,” said the sixth-seeded Spaniard. “I know I took some extra time at the end of the first set because I had to change everything there on the chair, in the changeover. I think honestly in that case normally, at the end of sets, the umpire gives you some extra time, especially under these very humid conditions, to change clothes.”

There was further controversy a game later when Nadal began his service routine only to look up and see his opponent gesturing towards Bernardes. This time the source of Shapovaolov’s chagrin was the Brazilian official himself, who was looking in his direction, rather than at the server.

“What are you looking at?” Shapovalov enquired – an oddly confrontational choice of words in the middle of a tennis match, albeit one that seemed strangely apt in the highly charged atmosphere. As the clearly irritated Bernardes pointed out, there were eight seconds left on the shot clock, so there was no question of slow play on Nadal’s part.

Amid the confusion, Nadal approached the net and spoke to Shapovalov before play continued. 

“It was nothing against Rafa,” Shapovalov later explained. “Rafa was serving and I would expect the umpire to be looking at Rafa, and the umpire was staring me down. It didn’t make sense to me. 

“I felt like there was some feud or something. I looked at him, you know. I was just explaining that to Rafa, that it had nothing to do with him.”

A gifted shot-maker capable of conjuring winners from anywhere on the court, Shapovalov has struggled so far in his young career to translate his formidable talents into appearances at the business end of majors. Incidents like this are unlikely to help. Last summer’s run to the Wimbledon semi-finals, where he started strongly against Novak Djokovic only to fall in three close sets, remains Shapovalov’s best showing to date. Djokovic’s performance that day – when he never at his best, but raised his level at the key moments – was an object lesson in the importance of a stable temperament, a trait every great champion must possess. Clearly Shapovalov has yet to absorb it. Facing another straight-sets defeat here, he played some brilliant tennis to prolong his interest in the contest. But ultimately he contributed to his own downfall, complaining about Nadal’s six and a half minute absence from the court at the end of the fourth set – first for a medical evaluation, then for a toilet break – when he would have been better off conserving his mental and emotional energy for the battle ahead.

“He was getting medically evaluated, that’s what the umpire said after the fourth set, and after the evaluation the guy goes and takes a toilet break,” Shapovalov complained. “It’s like, where is the line? Where are you going to step on the players and say, ‘Okay’. 

“I respect everything that Rafa has done, and I think he’s an unbelievable player. But there’s 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 the umpires, you’re playing against so much more. It’s difficult. It was a big break after the fourth set for this reason, and the momentum just goes away. It’s much more difficult to play.”

Yet Nadal too had external factors to contend with. He lost the fourth set on a single break of serve that came when Bernardes, an umpire with whom he has history, warned him for a time violation as he faced a break point at 1-2, 30-40. A double fault followed, and it was at the next change of ends that Nadal called the trainer to seek relief for his ailing stomach. As the problems piled up, he never sought excuses or succumbed to self-pity. How Shapovalov could benefit from such resilience.

Asked afterwards if he felt Nadal received special treatment, Shapovalov offered an emphatic response. “Of course. 100% he does. 100%,” said the Canadian. “He’s given so much time in between sets and all this. It’s just dragged out.”

Nadal gave the suggestion short shrift. “I really believe that he’s wrong,” he said. “I honestly feel sorry for him. I think he played a great match for a long time. 

“Of course, it is tough to accept losing a match like this, especially after I was feeling destroyed –probably he felt that – and then I was able to manage to win the match. I wish him all the very best. 

“He’s young, and everybody, I think we all make mistakes on our careers. I made a lot of mistakes too when I was younger. Probably he will understand later on, after he thinks the proper way, that probably he was not right today.”

Nadal, who now has two days to recover before a semi-final showdown with Berrettini, continues to do an awful lot right.  

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For an hour and 21 minutes, Mannarino subjected Nadal’s title credentials to a stern examination. He had lost both his previous meetings with the Spaniard and spent almost five hours battling to subdue Aslan Karatsev in the previous round but, having fought back from 6-4 down in the breaker, the unorthodox Frenchman held four set points. Nadal remained imperturbable, saving them all and finally taking the set at the seventh opportunity when, caught in no man’s land, he manufactured a ferocious drive volley that Mannarino could only stab wide. 

“It was a crazy one, chances for both,” said Nadal, who, with Mannarino fading physically, raced through the next two sets. “I was lucky to win that tiebreak at the end, no? Half of the match was in the tiebreak, without a doubt. He was playing great, that’s the truth. He was playing at a very high level. 

“His ball was super difficult to control out there. The ball came so fast, and the serve was difficult to read, and he opened the court very well. It was difficult to return. Then I started to return more inside the court with the second, and I took some advantage there.

“He’s a player that has an ability to make you feel uncomfortable on court because of his style of game. It is a victory with a lot of value, especially the first set.”

Just how much value remains to be seen. Nadal had barely booked his place in a 14th quarter-final at Melbourne Park before Denis Shapovalov wrapped up a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win over Alexander Zverev, the third seed, that did little harm to the the Spaniard’s prospects of successfully navigating the top half of a draw already shorn of Novak Djokovic. Zverev, who started the tournament as second favourite behind Daniil Medvedev, had won three of his previous four meetings with Nadal, and while a showdown with the gifted Canadian will be no walk in the park for the sixth seed, it certainly feels like the lesser of two evils. 

“[Zverev] was a bit of a favourite probably because of his ranking, but he was not a clear favourite,” said Nadal, who has not lost an official match to Shapovalov since 2017. “Everybody knows how good Denis is when he’s playing well. You didn’t expect a three-sets victory, but that’s what happened. 

“I don’t know if Sascha played well or not, but even considering Sascha was not playing fantastic today, to win in straight sets against him is because [Shapovalov] played a fantastic match.”

Now unbeaten in seven competitive matches since his return from the foot injury that kept him out of the sport for almost six months, Nadal has been surprised by the speed of his progress. Having contracted Covid at an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi before Christmas, a setback that threatened his hopes of competing in Australia, the Spaniard’s prospects of challenging for a title he last won in 2009 no longer appear fanciful.  

“To be able to play seven matches, it’s great news,” said Nadal. “In terms of tennis, I am happy. I did a lot of things well, and knowing where we are coming from, and about the amount of practices at the highest level that I was able to do before [coming] here, things are going much better than expected, without a doubt.

“But sport changes quick, and you need to be ready and you need to be there at the right moment to get it if you have the chance. I have been working very hard in all terms for a lot of months, not that much on court, but in all ways to try to come back to the tour.

“I am enjoying the fact that I am here, and I am enjoying the fact that I am again in the quarter-finals of a grand slam, something that is very special for me.”

Shapovalov’s path to the last eight has been almost identical to Nadal’s. Like the Spaniard, the 22-year-old contracted Covid in Abu Dhabi and, having helped Canada to the ATP Cup title on his return, he too will go into their showdown with seven successive wins. Shapovalov showed admirable patience to subdue Zverev, who had been seeking to reach the second week in Melbourne for a third successive year following last season’s victories at the Olympics and the ATP Finals.

“I’ve always wanted to play quick and go for my shots,” said Shapovalov. “But it’s difficult when you play a guy with the calibre of Sascha. You can’t go through him in one or two shots. You have to stay in the rallies, you have to work for the points. Then, when you have an opportunity, you can swing and go for it. 

“It’s been a little bit of adapting to that. Definitely I’ve been doing it much better as I’ve grown. Hopefully I can just continue to improve that and really know when to pick my moments to go for it and to play aggressive.”

Finding that balance promises to be crucial for the Canadian in the next round as he looks to build on his run to the Wimbledon semi-finals last summer.

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“In practice I was playing pretty good, which I was surprised by because usually, when I don’t take a racket for some days, I lose it really fast,” said Medvedev, the world No 2. “But the confidence of winning a grand slam of course helps, and I think that’s what got me going today because there were a few moments in the first set where I was kind of not sure what I was doing. 

“I remember the first break point I gave him an easy shot and you are like doubting a little bit. Could have played better, he won the game. But then everything [came] together and the only thing I was saying to myself was, you know, ‘Believe in yourself, you are playing great, and just put pressure on him.’”

Shapovalov started in typically swashbuckling style, drawing on the full range of his extensive repertoire as he swept away forehand winners, charged in behind his serve and feathered drop shots. Having survived a break point to clinch a lengthy fifth game, the 12th-ranked Canadian celebrated wildly, doing his best to whip the crowd into a frenzy. John McEnroe, the Team World captain, dished out bananas and volleying advice at the change of ends. 

Medvedev, meanwhile, went calmly about his business, flying through his service games and settling into his rhythm from the baseline. There was a fleeting moment of worry for the Russian in the eighth game when he was taken to deuce for the first time, but there is nothing quite like a 128mph to settle the nerves, and having quelled the danger he did not lose another game. 

“He started pretty well, was going to the net,” said Medvedev. “When you play a match for the first time in a few days, a passing shot is a tough shot to make because you really have a small margin to pass a guy. He was surprising me with some shots, so I needed to adapt. The first break, with the new balls, so I could go a little bit faster and he didn’t have time to prepare for his big shots, helped me to gain confidence and to feel like, ‘OK, that’s the moment where I can completely close the match,’ and that’s what happened.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas earlier defeated Nick Kyrgios, winning 100% of the points behind his first serve in the opening set and surviving a shoe malfunction in the second to see out a 6-3, 6-4 win. Alexander Zverev then continued Team Europe’s dominance with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (6-8), 10-5 victory, before Tsitsipas teamed up with Andrey Rublev in the final match of the day to subdue John Isner and Kyrgios 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 10-4. 

With each win on day two worth two points, double the value of the opening day’s matches, Team Europe’s lead now stands at 11-1. It leaves Team World requiring four wins from four matches on the final day, when each match will be worth three points.

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Apparently, this guy is quite good. Won some big tournament on grass a few weeks ago. Did okay on the clay at Roland Garros, too. Oh, and didn’t he win the Australian Open back in February? Come to think of it, that’s three different surfaces. Must be pretty useful. They say he once held all four grand slam titles simultaneously, you know; he must wonder what all this calendar year fuss is about. The man to beat, as he almost invariably is. 

What he says: “I have to hit one ball at a time, try to be in the moment – have a guiding star, in a way.”

2) Daniil Medvedev

Rumour has it there’s an angry octopus out there who wants his tentacles back. If he could see what fine use Medvedev has been making of them, maybe he’d think again. The Russian’s trademark flurry of arms and legs has carried him to his most consistent season so far in the majors. The Monaco-based Muscovite made the final in Melbourne, the last eight in Paris – where he’d never previously won a match – and, also for the first time, the last 16 at Wimbledon. Granted, a quarter-final loss at the Olympics was disappointing. But this is his favourite stretch of the season. Two years ago, Medvedev made four consecutive finals in North America, culminating in a US Open final defeat to Rafael Nadal; this year, he’s already won the Toronto Masters and made the semis at Cincinnati. A second final at Flushing Meadows would be no surprise. Just don’t point a camera in his face.

What he says: “I’m sure Novak wants 45 slams, playing until he is 55 … We’re here to not let him win the US Open. If I talk just for myself, I want to win the US Open.” 

3) Stefanos Tsitsipas

Blessed with the flowing locks and chiselled features of a Greek god, Tsitsipas could have been a catwalk model. Maybe he still will be, given his habit of nipping off court for a change of attire at the first available opportunity. (Quick tip: get a dresser, Stef; have you seen how fast real models change clothes?) There is substance to the style, though, as evidenced by a second semi-final at the Australian Open and, in Paris, a first major final. Up to a career-high third in the rankings, the Greek made it to the last four in Toronto and Cincinnati and looks ready for a deep run. Then again, he’s never previously been beyond round three, and faces a tough opener against Andy Murray, the 2012 champion and former world No 1.      

What he says: “I wouldn’t trust anyone with cutting my hair.”

4) Alexander Zverev

Having followed up his victory at the Tokyo Olympics by winning the Cincinnati Masters, Zverev arrives in New York – where he came within two points of the title in the final against Dominic Thiem last year – with genuine title pretensions. How far he will be affected by recent allegations about his private life remains to be seen.

What he says: “[Last year] fuelled gas into the fire a little bit because I was two points away from winning it … I am very, very motivated.”

5) Andrey Rublev

When Rublev made the Cincinnati Masters final after beating Medvedev for the first time in five attempts, he likened it to graduating from university. His compatriot has defeated him in two of the three major quarter-finals he has reached, so it was an important test to pass. Rublev fell short of his masters in Cincy, where he was handily beaten by Zverev in the final, and it may be too soon for the doctoral-level assignment of winning a first slam. A lovely ball-striker, the 23-year-old has struggled to reproduce his devastating three-set form over five sets, but he is steadily growing in experience and self-belief, and his last-eight runs at the US and Australian Opens speak of a player with genuine hard-court pedigree. Expect fun, fearsome forehands and perhaps even a place in the last four.

What he says: “The game is there, so it’s not about the game.”

6) Matteo Berrettini

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Djokovic seems to have taken the old adage to heart, if the sight of him practising with Berrettini in the Arthur Ashe stadium this week is anything to go by. Having pushed the world No 1 hard at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, where he made his first major final, could Berrettini finally get the job done in NYC? In the plus column, the towering Italian has shown he can be a contender in Queens by reaching the semis two years ago, and should be high on confidence after his run in SW19. The big question mark surrounds his inactivity since Wimbledon, where he was hampered by a thigh injury that subsequently forced him out of the Olympics. Berrettini has played just two matches since, edging a close three-setter against Albert Ramos Vinolas in Cincinnati before losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime. But if he makes his projected quarter-final against Djokovic and manages to keep it close, those booming serves and bazooka-like forehands will pose a genuine threat to the Serb’s grand slam prospects.

What he says: “Concrete is the surface on which there is the greatest struggle, it will be a tough tournament.”

7) Denis Shapovalov

Since making his breakthrough run to a first major semi-final at Wimbledon, Shapovalov has made more impact as a fledgling rap artist than as a tennis player. The Canadian has not won a match since early July, losing his openers in Gstaad, Toronto and Cincinnati, but has somehow found time to make a song entitled Night Train and release it on a newly-created Instagram account. A new MC in NYC? It’ll never catch on.

What he says: “In this sport, anyone can beat anyone on any given day.”

8) Casper Ruud

The ever-steady Norwegian has been on a tear since Wimbledon, capturing three titles in three weeks in Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbühel. All were on clay, and Ruud is not oblivious to criticism that he needs to post similar results on other surfaces. In Toronto, he mischievously signed a TV camera “hard courts” en route to the quarter-finals. He also reached the last eight the following week in Cincinnati. He has only once reached the fourth round of a slam, but that will surely change before too long. Watch this space.

What he says: “My best slam result is from this year’s Australian Open, so I think [hard courts are] a surface that also can suit my game well, even though this year has been mainly clay, clay, clay.”

9) Pablo Carreno Busta

The Spaniard has reached two semi-finals at Flushing Meadows. Djokovic, who was infamously disqualified against Carreno Busta last year – and more recently lost to him in the bronze medal match at the Olympics – will surely be praying he doesn’t make a third. PCB’s path to the last four is far from straightforward. Drawn in the same quarter as Shapovalov, a player he has beaten in all but one of their five previous meetings, Carreno Busta would potentially face Zverev in the last eight. Should that happen, he will not want for motivation after blowing a two-set semi-final lead against the German last year. With Reilly Opelka, Sebastian Korda, Lloyd Harris and Olympic silver medallist Karen Khachanov also lurking, the variables in this quarter are plentiful. But a rematch against Djokovic, with the grand slam on the line, would certainly be intriguing. 

What he says: “I am feeling [like] a better player, I am feeling more confidence on court.”

10) Hubert Hurkacz

Between winning a maiden Masters title at the Miami Open and reaching a first major semi-final at Wimbledon, it’s been quite the year for Hurkacz. He’s even discovered something quicker than his 150mph first serve: a McLaren GT, which tops out at 203mph, with which he’s been spending some quality time in Manhattan. That’s what happens when you start making waves at the top of the men’s game: people give you nice cars to play with. Don’t imagine it’ll go to the gentle giant’s head though. The 6ft 5in Pole is widely regarded as one of the most unassuming characters on the tour, about as far removed from the stereotypical New Yorker as could be imagined. Perhaps that’s why he’s never been beyond the second round at Flushing Meadows. Seeded to meet Berrettini in the last 16, he may struggle to improve greatly on that record this year.

What he says: “Can’t complain about my ride to the US Open this year.” 

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