It was a great show that Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andy Murray put on at Arthur Ashe Stadium on the first day of the US Open. Despite the difference in age, ratings and competition history, the balance was constant, and only after almost five hours, Tsitsipas, 11 years younger than him, won. But not before the controversy sparked, with medical stops and mainly an eight-minute visit to the bathroom at the end of the room. established, which angered Murray, who, in his opinion, was detained on purpose.
“I think he is a brilliant player, great for tennis, but I don’t have time for all this and I lost respect for him,” Murray said after losing 2-6, 7-6 (9/7) 3. -6, 6-3 and 6-4, after 4h49 – one of the 10 longest meetings in the history of the tournament. “When you challenge such a brutal match, if you stop for seven or eight minutes, the body gets cold,” the Briton said at a press conference.
The protracted match between Andy Murray and Tsitsipas was marked by a scandal due to the Greek’s long breaks in the bathroom ??
The 2012 US Open Champion, now 34 years old and ranked 112th, would like to talk more about his brilliant performance after what he has gone through with two right hip surgeries over the past four years.
Murray, who has yet to make the top three from the 2016 ATP finals, leads the two sets one was given only three breaks and was physically aware of Tsitsipas until the very last moment. “For the past few months I have said that I know that I can play this kind of tennis, and tonight I tried it to a certain extent. I played well, but after all this I am very disappointed. I am very disappointed, ”the Scot said.
Tsitsipas was calm and ready to talk to Murray. “If he wants to tell me something, I think we should talk to find out what went wrong. I don’t think I broke any rules, ”defended the 23-year-old Greek, who leads the ranking of won matches this season with 49 (out of 63 played) and ranks third in the world hierarchy. But she never made it to the third round of the US Open.
Andy Murray still believes. An electrifying end to the game between the Briton and Tsitsipas. Live Eurosport 1 Live pic.twitter.com/kNHWuiVCBZ
On Tuesday morning, Murray returned to the topic and posted a tweet in which he joked that the time it took Tsitsipas to go to the toilet was twice that of Jeff Bezos to fly into space. But complaints about the long-term departure of the Greek from the court come from behind, and Alexander Zverev two weeks ago found himself in a similar situation.
“Stefanos can play very well without going to the moon and back during the match.”toilet break‘. It happens in every match, it’s not normal, ”said the fourth in the rankings after beating Sam Querrey (78th) 6-4, 7-5 and 6-2. Zverev has done well with the American’s strong services, but also with controversy started by an ex-girlfriend who accuses him of domestic violence. It was the 12th straight match won by Zverev after winning the Tokyo Games where he defeated Novak Djokovic and the Cincinnati Masters 1000.
Reilly Opelka defended Tsitsipas, recalling the atmospheric conditions in New York, with temperatures above 30 degrees and humidity 80%. “We drink and hydrate a lot, we have to go to the bathroom. It takes five or six minutes to change socks, shoes, insoles, shorts, sweater, headwear, not counting the time to get to the court and back, ”said Opelka, one of the winners of the second day of the competition.
