Andy Murray Takes Sly Dig at Stefanos Tsitsipas After US Open Defeat, Says ‘Lost Respect’ For Greek Tennis Star

Still recovering from the energy-sapping Round 1 defeat at US Open 2021, Andy Murray has strongly criticized his opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas for taking lengthy ‘toilet breaks’ during their marathon five-setter at Flushing Meadows on Sunday. The world No. 3 Tsitsipas took multiple extended breaks at crucial times during their first-round US Open match against three-time Grand Slam champion Murray. After the match, Murray says he has “lost respect” for young and talented Tsitsipas and called it absolute ‘nonsense’ as the Greek kept disappearing from the Arthur Ashe during crucial junctures of the match.

Murray and Tsitsipas battled for more than four-and-a-half hours in a five-set thriller, with the latter eventually prevailing 2-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the second round at Flushing Meadows. Showing his displeasure after the match, Murray mocked Tsitsipas over extended toilet breaks and medical time out.

“It’s just disappointing because I feel it influenced the outcome of the match,” Murray told reports after the match. “I’m not saying I necessarily win that match, for sure, but it had influence on what was happening after those breaks.

“I rate him a lot. 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.”

Fact of the day. It takes Stefanos Tsitipas twice as long to go the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bazos to fly into space. Interesting. 🚽 🚀

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) August 31, 2021

During the intense battle, Murray could be heard complaining to chair umpire Nico Helwerth and US Open match supervisor Gerry Armstrong about the amount of time Tsitsipas was taking between the sets for changeover.

The Scot was still clearly furious about the length of Tsitsipas’s breaks the following day, seen in a rather sarcastic, and funny, tweet he posted about the issue. “Fact of the day. It takes Stefanos Tsitipas twice as long to go the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bazos to fly into space. Interesting,” wrote the 34-year-old Murray.

Tsitsipas, who didn’t break any rules, took lengthy toilet breaks at the end of the second and fourth sets and received a medical time out for an apparent foot injury before the fourth set.

The Monte-Carlo champion, Tsitsipas, who was facing Murray for the first time on Monday, will next face Adrian Mannarino in the second round after the Frenchman defeated countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.