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Andy Murray spoke with Gerry Armstrong, US Open match supervisor, about Stefanos Tisipas's toilet break
US Open 2021 Venue Flushing Meadows New York Date: 30-08-12 September Coverage: Daily radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra/BBC Sport website/app, with selected text commentaries and match report on the app and website
Andy Murray claims he lost respect for third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a fierce US Open match, where the Briton accused his opponent "cheating" by using long bathroom breaks.
Murray was furious that the Greek took an eight-minute bathroom break before their fifth-round match.
Tsitsipas, 23 years old, won the decider for a win of 2-6 7-6 (9-7-7) 3-6 3-3 6-4.
It's not about leaving the court. Murray stated that it was the length of time. Murray said, "It's absurd and he knows that."
Three-time Grand Slam champion said: "That's irritating for me because that sounds like sour grapes since you've lost an match.
"I would have said exactly the same thing if it was me, I swear."
Tsitsipas did not break any rules and left court at the end the second set for a bathroom break. He also had a medical time out for treatment of a foot injury that occurred before the fourth set.
Murray stated, "It's just disappointed because I feel that it influenced the result of the match." Murray said, "I don't think I won that match, but it had an influence on what was happening afterwards."
The final set was won by Murray, but the 34-year old Scot shouted at his box, "It's cheating!"
He also complained about Tsitsipas's excessive time to Tsitsipas to Nico Helwerth, the chair umpire, and Gerry Armstrong, the US Open match supervisor.
Murray said to Armstrong, "It has never taken me so long to go to a bathroom ever."
Tsitsipas stated that he had followed the guidelines throughout his career.
The French Open finalist explained the time span by saying: "It's obvious that I took my clothes with I when I left court.
"That's how long it takes me to change my clothes, and then to walk back to court.
In a five-set match with five players, each player is allowed to take two breaks to use the bathroom and change clothes. Breaks are not permitted at the end.
Grand Slam rules provide that players may ask permission to leave the court for a reasonable period of time in order to use the toilet.
Tsitsipas answered a question about Murray's anger by saying: "If he has something to tell me, we should talk to each other to understand what went wrong."
"I don’t believe I broke any rules. It's not my priority to know what my opponent feels while I'm playing. It's not my main priority."
Murray stated that long breaks during "brutal" matches can cause physical problems for players and asked for rules changes "because it's bad for the sport, TV, and it's bad for fans".
"Each time it was before I served, as well. He also chose to play in the fourth set, when I had 0-30. I believe he switched his racquet," said the former world number 1.
"It cannot be coincidence that it happens at those moments.
"I like him very much. He's a great player. He's a great player. He lost my respect because I don't have the time to do that.
