Rafael Nadal has moved one step closer to making history by reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
If he succeeds in lifting the trophy in Melbourne on Sunday, he will move clear of great rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in terms of all-time Grand Slam titles won. The trio are currently tied on twenty each.
He beat the 14th seed Canadian Denis Shapovalov in their quarter-final on Tuesday. Shapovalov had produced one of his best ever wins in the fourth round by knocking out Alexander Zverev of Germany, the world number three, and one of the favourites for the title in the absence of Djokovic this year.
Nadal took the first two sets, only for the Canadian to hit back to level the match and take it into a decider.
However, Nadal was able to force a decisive break of serve which he consolidated to secure the win.
The match was not without controversy. Shapovalov was unhappy about Nadal’s slow play and the time taken between points. Players are meant to take no more than 30 seconds between points.
Shapovalov became embroiled in a furious row with chair umpire Carlos Bernardes during the first set, demanding he hit Nadal with a code violation for time wasting and docking him a point. When Bernardes refused, Shapovalov called out that everybody was corrupt and furiously smashed his racket on the court.
Unperturbed by the incident, Nadal kept his cool to make yet another Grand Slam semi-final.
Elsewhere, tournament organisers have been forced to reverse their decision to ban t-shirts in support of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.
They had initially banned t-shirts and banners in support of Peng, saying that it was against their ticketing policy to allow for overt political or commercial messaging. Some believed that it was for fear of upsetting lucrative Chinese sponsorship deals at the event.
However, after that decision provoked global backlash, both in the world of tennis and beyond, they have been forced to take a U-turn. They have now said that protests will be allowed, provided they are peaceful and without any intent to disrupt proceedings.