Rafael Nadal is adamant he doesn't receive any preferential treatment from umpires after his Australian Open quarter-final win over Denis Shapovalov on Tuesday.
After winning the first two sets, the Spaniard had to dig deep to triumph in five sets with Shapovalov claiming Nadal was getting longer breaks than he was allowed to during the match.
While the Canadian would backtrack from initial claims of the umpire being "corrupt", he doubled down on his belief that Nadal benefited from leniency that the bigger stars get.
"It’s a big joke. Last year I wasn’t allowed to take a toilet break when I asked for a medical [timeout], he had already taken two medicals, he was getting medically evaluated after the fourth set, that’s what the ump said, and after the evaluation the guy goes and takes a toilet break," Shapovalov said.
“It’s just like, where’s the line? Where are you gonna step on the players?
"I respect everything that Rafa’s done...but there’s got to be some boundaries, some rules set."
Nadal was asked about Shapovalov's claims during his post-match press conference and was quick to deny any preferential treatment.
The Spaniard ultimately suggesting his opponent was simply struggling to deal with such a dramatic defeat.
"I really believe that on the court you don't deserve better treatment than the others," Nadal said.
"And I really don't want it and I don't feel I have it. Without a doubt, even as everybody knows, that I have a huge respect for Carlos, and I think he's a great umpire. Is not the case that he was always hard with me on court, no? No, no, I don't think that's the case.
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"It's always in the mind that the top players get bigger advantages, no, and honestly on court is not true, no? That's my feeling. I never feel that I had advantages on court, and I really believe that he's wrong in that case, no?
"If I am not wrong, in the last couple of years we have a clock, we increase the measures to make the things more fair for everyone.
"I honestly feel sorry for him. I think he played a great match for a long time.
"Of course is tough to accept to lose a match like this, especially after I was feeling destroyed and probably he felt that, and then I was able to manage to win.
"I wish him all the very best. Probably he will understand later on after he thinks the proper way that probably he was not right today."
Nadal will now face Italian Matteo Berrettini on Friday night in the semi-finals as he chases his first Australian Open title since 2009.