Andy Murray’s biggest issue during his 4am Australian Open epic was one we can all relate to as we get older.
Needing to go to the toilet at night.
The Scot delivered a scathing attack on tournament organisers in a mid-match spray at the chair umpire after four sets of his comeback win over Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Watch Tennis Live with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. Live Coverage of ATP + WTA Tour Tournaments including Every Finals Match. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
The problem was simple: understandably, after around four hours of play, he needed to use the bathroom.
But the ATP implemented new rules on bathroom breaks ahead of the 2022 season, limiting players to one per match, and for a maximum of three minutes. Previously, two breaks were allowed in five-setters.
And Murray had already gone once. (Needing to go twice in five hours? Don’t be ridiculous!)
“I respect the rules. It’s so disrespectful that the tournament has us out there until three f***ing AM, four o’clock in the morning, and we’re not allowed to go and take a piss,” he told chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore on Friday morning.
“It’s a joke. It is a joke. And you know it as well.
“It’s disrespectful – it’s disrespectful to you, it’s disrespectful to the ball children, and it’s disrespectful to the players that we’re not allowed to go to the toilet.”
HOW? Murray winds back the clock | 00:44
Unfortunately for Murray, in a way this was one of his own complaints coming back to bite him.
Murray was left frustrated at the 2021 US Open when Stefanos Tsitsipas took three extended breaks, including eight minutes after the fourth set, in their five-set match won by the Greek.
“It’s not so much leaving the court. It’s the amount of time. It’s nonsense and he knows it,” Murray explained.
“I have zero time for that stuff at all and I lost respect for him.”
Tsitsipas continued to manipulate the rule during the tournament leaving Murray to tweet: “Fact of the day. It takes Stefanos Tsitsipas twice as long to go to the bathroom as it takes (Amazon’s) Jeff (Bezos) to fly into space. Interesting.”
