It was a mammoth game as Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andy Murray pushed on for almost five hours, for a five set match.
The 23-year-old managed to overcome his British opponent, finishing on an impressive 2-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Tempers flared on court during the first round match of the US Open, after Tsitsipas left the court for a bathroom break after the fourth set, which Murray deemed unfair.
The Brit’s issues started earlier in the game, after he found himself struggling with his shoes, complaining the they were not fit for him to play in having become soaked with sweat. Murray did not have a replacement pair to change into.
Murray went on to get increasingly frustrated with Tsitsipas’ breaks, including a racquet switch in the fourth set when the Greek was down 0-30, followed by a ‘long’ bathroom break.
“It can’t be coincidence that it’s happening at those moments,” Murray said in his post match interview.
“I don’t believe it was causing him any issue at all. He was fine, moving great I thought.”
“It’s just disappointing, because I feel it influenced the outcome of the match. I’m not saying I necessarily win that match, for sure, but it had influence on what was happening after those breaks,” he said.
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Tsitsipas was reportedly changing clothes in his last break that timed beyond seven minutes, due hot, humid conditions.
“I rate him a lot,” Murray said. “I think he’s a brilliant player. I think he’s great for the game. But I have zero time for that stuff at all, and I lost respect for him.”
The third seed caught wind of the newly returned tennis legend’s comments and insisted that he had obeyed all rules.
“If there’s something that he has to tell me, we should speak, the two of us, to kind of understand what went wrong. I don’t think I broke any rules,” Tsitsipas said in a post match interview.
“As far as I know you’re allowed to have two toilet breaks to go change your clothes in a five-setter. I’ve never broken any rules, so I see no reason that that’s a problem anyways.”
This isn’t the first time Tsitsipas’ break antics have raised eyebrows. The Greek tennis star came under fire when he took his entire kit bag with him after losing the first set of one of his Western and Southern Open games.
His father and coach Apostolos was seen to be texting on his phone during the eight minute court absence, leading people to speculate that he may have been coaching his son.
Tsitsipas is set to play Adrian Mannarino on Thursday, 2 September.