Stefanos Tsitsipas has returned service to Andy Murray arsenic the controversy implicit the Greek star's lengthy bath breaks rumbles connected 2 days aft the erstwhile satellite No.1 said he'd "lost respect" for the 23-year-old.
After the pair's epic 5 acceptable archetypal circular clash, Murray lit a occurrence that has caught clasp passim the tennis satellite by calling Tsitsipas retired for disrupting play, archetypal with a aesculapian time-out, past with an eight-minute bath interruption astatine the extremity of the 4th acceptable that had the three-time expansive slam victor fuming.
Tsitsipas again raised eyebrows successful his 2nd circular lucifer today, this clip taking a seven-minute stoppage during his 4 acceptable triumph implicit Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
While Tsitsipas hasn't breached immoderate rules with his lengthy stoppages implicit the people of this week's US Open, helium was forced to support himself during today's property league aft fielding a fig of hard-hitting questions by journalists.
"I would similar to cognize what is the rule?" Tsitsipas replied erstwhile questioned astir today's break.
"The rules are determination to beryllium followed.
"If I interruption the rules, definite I'm guilty, I agree. If I'm staying wrong the guidelines past what's the issue?"
Pressed again connected the contented and whether helium understood Murray's disapproval surrounding the morals of the sport, Tsitsipas deed backmost by bringing up the 2012 US Open final, successful which Murray took a bath astatine the extremity of the 4th acceptable of his clash with Novak Djokovic. Murray went connected to triumph the 5th acceptable and the title aft stopping the Serbian's momentum erstwhile the lucifer was squared astatine 2 sets apiece.
Tsitsipas went into a backmost and distant with a newsman implicit the matter.
Tsitsipas: I person a question for you. I don't ticker different people's business. But I retrieve watching it erstwhile I was younger. Can you delight cheque erstwhile Andy Murray faced Novak Djokovic astatine the last here, earlier the 5th set, that break, tin you delight look it up and fto maine cognize adjacent time?
Reporter: I did. He took little than 3 minutes.
Tsitsipas: Less than 3 minutes, okay.
Reporter: I looked it up.
Tsitsipas: Okay. So 3 minutes much marque a difference?
Reporter: He thought so. It's a question of intelligibly you're doing thing that is upsetting your peers.
That constituent was backed up by American Sloane Stephens, who said the contented of lengthy bath breaks is besides evident successful the women's broadside of the sport. The erstwhile US Open champion added that a alteration to the rules would beryllium a invited sight.
"I bash cognize connected the girl's side, determination inactive is simply a batch of that," Stephens said.
"It's gamesmanship. I deliberation determination decidedly needs to beryllium a regularisation oregon changes. They marque a batch of regularisation changes for smaller things - similar they took 1 infinitesimal disconnected the warmup.
"If idiosyncratic goes to the bath for 9 minutes, nary 1 says anything."
After proceeding the speech betwixt Tsitsipas and the reporter, erstwhile Australian tennis prima Darren Cahill, who is present 1 of the astir highly regarded coaches connected the tour, disagreed with the "narrative" Tsitsipas was spinning.
He said the radical calling Tsitsipas retired were qualified to person an opinion, fixed they were chiefly players and ex-players.
"That's the incorrect narrative, helium shouldn't beryllium going down that path," Cahill said.
"That's not correct. We arsenic erstwhile players are saying it's excessively long.
"We bash cognize what it's similar to spell done what he's going through, possibly not arsenic his level, but determination are overmuch amended players than maine that person commented connected this and 8 minutes is excessively agelong to alteration your apparel and spell to the bathroom.
"He's right, he's not doing thing wrong. He's not going against the rules.
"The rules fundamentally accidental you tin instrumentality a bath interruption oregon a alteration of apparel interruption wrong a tenable time.
"Now what is simply a tenable time? This is wherever the athletics lets down the players and the athletics needs to beryllium much authoritative with this and acceptable a clip limit.
"Here astatine Arthur Ashe Stadium, the bath is 10 steps disconnected the court. You tin spell successful there, get your apparel off, alteration your apparel and beryllium backmost connected the tribunal wrong 2 oregon 3 minutes nary problem.
"So, acceptable immoderate clip you privation and the players volition spell by it.
"Once you spell implicit that time, you get a informing for a clip hold and each 30 seconds aft it you get docked a constituent and I committedness you the players volition get backmost connected the tribunal successful time."
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