Nadal cops bizarre code violation 'for good sportsmanship'
Rafael Nadal has been stung by the new shot clock rule at the US Open, all because he was trying to be a nice guy.
The defending champion eased into the third round on Thursday (AEST) with a straight sets win over Vasek Pospisil.
But the win didn’t come without its problems.
Nadal received a bizarre time violation in the third set when he fell foul of the 25-second shot clock.
Pospisil appeared to be struggling in the stifling New York heat and wasn’t ready when Nadal was about to serve.
The Canadian put up his hand to ask Nadal for an extra few seconds, resulting in the shot clock expiring.
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Inexplicably, the chair umpire issued the code violation warning to Nadal for holding up the game.
“I was waiting for him,” Nadal said to the umpire, laughing at the bizarre warning.
The serve clocks are making their grand slam debut at Flushing Meadows, and Nadal has previously stated his dislike of them.
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A fresh-looking Nadal, whose first round match was cut short after opponent David Ferrer retired with a calf injury midway through the second set, started brightly against the Canadian and never looked back.
The top-seeded Spaniard wrapped up the opening set in 35 minutes after breaking early to go 3-0 up as Pospisil, ranked 88th in the world, struggled to settle into a serving rhythm.
The Canadian rallied briefly in the second set, improving his first serve percentage and managing to break Nadal to lead briefly, but the world number one broke back immediately and went on to win four games in a row to seize complete control.
“In the second set I had two games in a row where I had trouble with my serve,” Nadal said in a courtside interview.
“The first one I saved, the second one I couldn’t. I was lucky to be able to break back.
“To win in straight sets is always positive.”
Nadal started the third set on the front foot, breaking early once again as Pospisil ran out of steam. The Spaniard wrapped the contest in exactly two hours, and will next face Russian prospect Karen Khachanov, the 27th seed.
Playing his second night match in a row, Nadal looked a lot more comfortable in the muggy conditions than he did against Ferrer, who was down a set but up a break against his fellow Spaniard when he was forced to retire in the first round.
The weather has been one of the main talking points of the first week at Flushing Meadows, with high temperatures and humidity forcing organisers to impose “extreme heat” rules to give the players some relief.
The 32-year-old Nadal said he was looking forward to the end of the week, when rain is expected.
“We’ll be able to see better tennis than what we saw first couple of days of the US Open,” added the 17 times Grand Slam champion.
“Playing under these conditions is, first thing, not healthy, and second thing, is not good for nobody — not good for the fans, not good for the players. The show is a little bit worse under these conditions.”
with agencies