New York | Tsitsipas spends “twice as much time” in the bathroom as Jeff Bezos in space: Andy Murray does not digest his defeat in the first round of the United States Open on Monday and several hours later he still quipped about the breaks taken by the Greek during the match.
• Read also: United States Open: nice comeback from Fernandez, Marino hits a wall
• Read also: United States Open: Félix Auger-Aliassime wins a very long battle
” The fact of the day. Stefanos Tsitsipas takes twice as long to go to the bathroom than Jeff Bezos to go to space. It’s interesting, ”tweeted the Scotsman in reference to the round trip of some ten minutes between Earth and space made by the American billionaire in July.
Murray had gone into details a few hours earlier at a press conference.
“He abused all these rules that allow you to break the rhythm of the match. It is no coincidence that he took all these breaks when I was about to serve or when I put him in difficulty, as on his serve at 0-30, when I was leading two sets to one … He knows very well. well what he did, i lost all respect for him, ”he declared very bitter.
The 34-year-old Scotsman had just given in after almost five hours on the court Arthur Ashe 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and was going strong after having to several times yelled “it’s a fucking joke!” »By putting away his things.
During the meeting, Tsitsipas took several breaks, to have his right arch of the foot treated by a physiotherapist, to change his racket or to go to the bathroom and in the locker room to change at the end of the 4th set. A long absence of seven minutes.
“When you play a tough game like this and stop for seven or eight minutes, you cool yourself down. You can mentally prepare for it as much as you want, but the point is, it affects you physically, many times during the game, ”said Murray.
“It’s just disappointing because I think it affected the end result,” said Murray, who barely greeted his opponent at the net after the converted match point.
“If he has something to tell me, we should both talk about it.” I don’t think I broke any rules, ”the Greek, ten years younger, defended himself at a press conference, in a phlegmatic tone.
Seven minutes, “that’s the time it takes for me to change. And getting back on the court takes a bit of time. As far as I know, we are allowed to take two toilet breaks in a five-set match, ”he argued.
Murray concluded by arguing for a rule change he deemed “absurd”. “Because it’s not good for the sport, for the fans. I don’t think that’s a good image returned by the players either. ”
