Former World no.1 Andy Murray revealed that he lost respect for Stefanos Tsitsipas after the Greek took a long bathroom break during the first round match of the US Open. This is not the first time that Tsitsipas has done this on the tour and it certainly didn’t please Murray.
The youngster received medical attention on his left foot after losing the third set against the Briton. Subsequently, the Greek player went to use the bathroom after winning the fourth set.
Tsitsipas went on to win the thrilling match by 2-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 4 hours, 49 minutes but Murray was not happy with the break which his opponent took.
Murray felt Tsitsipas foot was fine, for which he had received medical attention as he was moving well on the court for the next two hours of play.
“The issue is that you cannot stop the way that that affects you physically,” Murray said. “When you’re playing a brutal match like that, you know, stopping for seven, eight minutes, you do cool down. You can prepare for it mentally as much as you like, but it’s the fact that it does affect you physically when you take a break that long, well, multiple times during the match.
“I think when he took the medical timeout, it was just after I had won the third set. Also in the fourth set when I had Love-30, he chose to go — I don’t know if he changed his racket or what he was doing. But, yeah, it can’t be coincidence that it’s happening at those moments.” “I don’t believe [his foot] was causing him any issue at all,” Murray continued. “The match went on for another two and a bit hours after that or something. He was fine, moving great, I thought.”
In fact, Alexander Zverev had also complained about Tsitsipas’ break during the semifinal of the Cincinnati Masters.
“He took his bag with his phone and everything in it,” Zverev said on the court. “This was the same thing in Paris and is going to be the same thing every other tournament he’s playing.”
Murray added that Tsitsipas is a brilliant player as he has all the skills to go a long way in his career but he lost his respect.
“I think he’s a brilliant player,” Murray said. “I think he’s great for the game. But I have zero time for that stuff at all, and I lost respect for him.”
On the other hand, Tsitsipas stated that he didn’t do anything wrong as it is under the ATP rules and guidelines.
