NEW YORK — Andy Murray is still convinced his early U.S. Open exit was in part because of a bathroom break.
“Fact of the day. It takes Stefanos Tsitsipas twice as long to go the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bezos to fly into space. Interesting,” Murray wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning.
The 34-year-old Murray lost to No. 3 seed Tsitsipas on Monday in the first round of the Grand Slam in Flushing. The Englishman said in his post-match press conference that his opponent’s calculated medical timeout and lengthy bathroom break “influenced the outcome of the match.”
“I’m not saying I necessarily win that match for sure, but it had influence on what was happening after those breaks,” Murray explained.
Tsitsipas won the nearly five-hour match 2-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. He took a medical timeout for his foot after Murray won the third set. His bathroom break in the fourth set was what set Murray off.
“When I had Love-30, he chose to go,” Murray said. “I don’t know if he changed his racket or what he was doing. But, yeah, it can’t be coincidence that it’s happening at those moments.
“When you’re playing a brutal match like that, you know, stopping for seven, eight minutes, you do cool down. ... it does affect you physically when you take a break that long, well, multiple times during the match.”
Tsitsipas explained after the game he’d been changing his clothes and wasn’t breaking any rules.
“I don’t know how my opponent feels when I’m out there playing the match. It’s not really my priority,” Tsitsipas said. “As far as I’m playing by the rules and sticking to what the ATP says is fair, then the rest is fine.”
Tsitsipas will play Adrian Mannarino in the second round of the tournament on Wednesday.
Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champ and the 2012 U.S. Open winner, is currently ranked 112 in the world as injuries have taken a toll in recent years.
