Andy Murray wanted, that was important to him, just not to look like the bad loser after the defeat against Stefanos Tsitsipas. The British tennis pro had proven for almost five hours at the US Open that he still delivers epic dramas and stuff for heroic tales. “I should now talk about what a fantastic player he is and how great it is for me to perform like this after everything that has happened in the last four years – but I’m talking about toilet breaks, medical breaks and Delays, “said Murray, trying really hard to remain the gentleman he usually is – because if it had all happened in a pub on Friday night in Murray’s birthplace, Glasgow, he would have chafed Tsitsipas.
Specifically, it was about all the breaks that Tsitsipas treats himself to during a game: going to the toilet after the second set, changing clubs while lagging behind in his own service game in the third (Murray: “I had 0:30 at that moment …”), Medical time-out due to a wound on his left foot after the round: “After that, he played for two and a half hours and moved well. Nothing was wrong with him.”
Then, after the fourth sentence, Tsitsipas’ chair remained empty for almost eight minutes – another toilet break. “It’s all no coincidence,” Murray grumbled: “It’s crap, and he knows it too. He’s a brilliant actor, but I’ve lost my respect for him.”
“Get up”, Murray yells angrily to the Greek: “What are you doing?”
There are violent allegations against Tsitsipas, who occupy tennis on a larger scale, because the Greek is not the only one. The opponents of Angelique Kerber and Andrea Petkovic in New York each indulged in extensive toilet visits, there were numerous breaks on the first day of the tournament and the suspicion that some players were interpreting the rules in such a way as to gain an unfair advantage. “It’s not so much about the psyche. We knew beforehand that it would happen,” said Murray. “If you do a brutal match like this and take an eight-minute break, the body goes down.”
Waiting for the Greek: Andy Murray has to pass the time again until Stefanos Tsitsipas returns.
(Photo: ELSA / AFP)
That’s right: When Tsitsipas’ chair was empty, Murray sat around bored, then he blew cold air from a funny device next to him in his face. Then he played with tennis balls, debated with referee Nico Helwerth (“Do you think that’s okay?”), Tipped on the baseline, played with the ball kids. Tsitsipas calmly returned to the square, calmly gave his mask to a ball kid, got water bottles and then sat down first. That was the moment for Murray there would have been a fight in the pub in Glasgow. “Get up”, Murray yelled: “What are you doing?” Well, what Tsitsipas did: He immediately won Murray’s service game, it was the decisive break at 2: 6, 7: 6 (9: 7), 3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4 in the first round in favor of the Greeks.
From the point of view of Tsitsipas, and certainly also from that of his father Apostolos and coaching fox Patrick Mouratoglou: everything was done right, dangerous situation averted against a dangerous opponent, tricky game over in the first round. “If he wants to tell me something, he should come to me straight away,” said Tsitsipas, while other questions on the subject he turned into Teflon: “I haven’t broken any rules and I see no reason why this should be a problem now should.” And on the accusation that Alexander Zverev had recently hinted at at the tournament in Cincinnati that father and son communicate on their cell phones during these breaks: “I never did that. It’s ridiculous to even think that.”
The Americans have a laconic sentence for what is happening in tennis: “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” So: what can Tsitsipas do to ensure that the rules are what they are? And isn’t it precisely the job of a professional athlete to do everything within the framework of the regulations to win? The better is not always the more popular, the more talented, but sometimes also the more savvy.
The rules need to be changed, very urgently
Tennis players are wonderful neurotics at times; There are always the same fiddling with Rafael Nadal before rallies or during the change of sides, Roger Federer’s obsession with the number eight or Novak Djokovic’s trick of tapping the ball up to 20 times before serving, depending on the stress level.
The peculiarity of Tsitsipas are the breaks, he behaves according to the regulations, and why should someone care what the loser thinks, of all things in the solitary sport of tennis? In no other discipline are athletes alone and without permitted contact with others as long as in a five-set match like the one between Tsitsipas and Murray. A moral debate is only conditionally effective, and so Tsitsipas said: “The feelings of my opponent are not really my priority out there on the pitch.”
“Do you think that’s okay?” Andy Murray (right) conducts a non-representative survey of referees (left, former chief judge Gerald Armstrong, in the middle Eva Asderaki).
(Photo: Elsa / AFP)
The rules must be changed, however, very urgently, and Murray, as a member of the players’ council, said that there were already suggestions – loss of points when changing clubs during a service game or giving up a game if the toilet break is too long: “Then you just start a set 0: 1 deficit. ” The angry Murray’s conversation with referee Helwerth during the long break showed how necessary this change to the regulations is. “Forget the rules,” said Murray, “I want your opinion on whether that’s okay with you.” Helwerth said, and he spoke to all tennis fans who are not related or friends with Tsitsipas, from the soul: “No, I am not.”
Opinions are of course like noses: everyone has one. The tennis association now has to find a solution that no longer allows two opinions. He should interpret the insanely loud boos at Arthur Ashe Stadium against Tsitsipas during his breaks and antics as an unmistakable message. People want to talk about this great match on a day like this, about the joy of playing Tsitsipas and the Lionheart of Murray, and certainly not about a chair that remains empty for eight minutes.