Shapovalov absorbs another tough lesson

It’s an unwritten rule in pro sports that the stars often get the benefit of the doubt, a slight bending of the rules in crucial situations.

Pick a sport and pick a poster star. It’s not always fair when it comes to fouls, but it’s the nature of the beast.

Which brings us to mercurial Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov, who lost his cool — again — in the course of his thrilling 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 loss to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open quarter-finals Tuesday.

Shapovalov staged an impressive rally from two sets down and was in prime position to knock out Nadal before the ailing 35-year-old gutted out another victory for the ages while keeping alive his pursuit of a record 21st Grand Slam title.

But the talking points afterwards were all about Shapovalov and whether he crossed the line in ripping into umpire Carlos Bernardes for giving Nadal too much time to recover between points and sets.

In his post-match comments, Shapovalov apologized for his “you’re all corrupt” line toward Bernardes following the first set, but he still poured a little more fire on what could become a hefty fine.

“Where is the line?,” Shapovalov told reporters in Melbourne. “I respect everything Rafa has done and I think he’s an unbelievable player. But there have 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 so much more.”

There may have been some merit in the rant — Nadal took a seven-minute break between the fourth and fifth sets when he took some “tablets” to try and calm what he acknowledged was a heat-related ailment — but for a 22-year-old with no Grand Slam titles to call out a legend?

While he inches ever closer to the game’s elite players — he lost a tight three-set match to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semifinals last year but rolled over No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev in Australia to reach the showdown with Nadal — he’s still trying to reach that top group himself.

The intriguing question is whether Shapovalov or fellow Canadian Felix Auger-aliassime will assume that position first. Auger-aliassime has his own shot at reaching the Australian Open semifinals, facing second seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals Wednesday. It’s a rematch of last year’s U.S. Open semifinal, where Medveded won in straight sets.

After a slow start Tuesday, including a heated exchange with his coach’s box, Shapovalov fought his way through the third set and took his game to another level in the fourth set.

He was overpowering Nadal with his serve and with crisp groundstrokes on both the backhand and forehand. Nadal, meanwhile, was clearly in pain, failing to run down the balls he would normally chase.

Nadal acknowledged that he got lucky when Shapovalov lost his serve early in the fifth set. He also denied that he receives preferential treatment and suggests Shapovalov made a youthful mistake in being so outspoken.

“I don’t think that’s the case,” he said. “I really believe sometimes that it’s always in the mind that top players get bigger advantages. Honestly, on court, it’s not true. That is my feeling.”