The ParalympicsGB wheelchair tennis champion Gordon Reid has become the latest person to criticise Stefanos Tsitsipas for the length of his bathroom breaks during victory against Andy Murray at the US Open, claiming he would not be able to show his face were he to do the same on tour.
Murray was enraged by Tsitsipas’s conduct during their first-round match at Flushing Meadows on Monday, accusing his opponent of cheating after keeping him waiting for more than seven minutes during one timeout before the fifth set before then going on social media to claim, as a fact, that the 23-year-old “takes twice as long to go to the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bazos [sic] to fly into space”.
Murray soon received support for his protests from fellow competitors Milos Raonic and Dominic Thiem, with his compatriot Reid doing the same after his victory against the Argentinian Gustavo Fernández in their men’s wheelchair singles quarter-final tie at Ariake Tennis Park on Wednesday.
When asked if Tsitsipas’s apparent gamesmanship would take place in the impaired version of the sport, Reid said: “I don’t think so. Definitely not in the men’s division anyway, for sure. Everybody has a lot of respect for each other and we play each other at almost every event. I don’t know if you’d be able to do that sort of thing and show your face the next time. Thankfully it’s not an issue for us.”
Reid came from 4-0 down in the opening set todefeat Fernández 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 and remain on course to retain the title he won in Rio five years ago. He will face the world No 1 and home favourite, Shingo Kunieda, in the semi-finals on Thursday. The 29-year-old has also reached a second consecutive doubles final in Tokyo, alongside his teammate Alfie Hewett.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Rebecca Redfern won silver in a thrilling women’s SB13 100m breaststroke final, an especially notable achievement given it is only 14 months since the 21‑year‑old gave birth to son Patrick.
“I’m excited to go home and see my little boy, just really happy,” Redfern said. “I was so nervous that all of that anxious energy just came out in the first 50m,” she said. “And bringing it home, my body felt like it was shutting off with 10 metres to go and I just tried to really push it.”
There were also bronze medals for the archer Victoria Rumary in the women’s W1 individual event, and in table tennis for the women’s class 4-5 team of Sue Bailey and Meg Shackleton and the men’s class 8 team of Aaron McKibbin, Billy Shilton and Ross Wilson.
Also in table tennis, Will Bayley progressed to the gold-medal match of the men’s class 6-7 team event, alongside Paul Karabardak. The British pair were forced to come from behind after losing 3-2 in their doubles match with the Spaniards Jordi Morales and Álvaro Valera.
Stefanos Tsitsipas was jeered by the US Open crowd after taking another lengthy bathroom break during his second-round win over Adrian Mannarino.
The Greek third seed had angered Andy Murray with his long trips to the toilet in their marathon five-setter on Monday.
Tsitsipas looked to be cruising into round three when he took a two-set lead against the Frenchman Mannarino. But he was up to his old tricks again after dropping the third set, leaving the court for more than seven minutes.
The late-night crowd on Arthur Ashe made their feelings clear when he finally returned, but the fired-up world No 3 went on to complete a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-0 victory.
Afterwards, Tsitsipas insisted: "I haven't done anything wrong, so I don't understand. The people love the sport, they come to watch tennis. I have nothing against them. I love the fans. But some people don't understand. They haven't played tennis at high level to understand how much effort and how much difficult it is to do what we are doing.
"Sometimes we need a short break to do what we have to do."
Clearly irked by criticism from Murray and some other players, Tsitsipas mentioned a toilet break the Scot took after the fourth set of his victory in the US Open final against Novak Djokovic in 2012. When informed that break took less than three minutes, he replied: "OK. So three minutes more makes a difference?"
He concluded: "I've done everything the right way. If I haven't, I should be penalised. I completely agree with that. But as far as I know, you know, it is a necessity. It is a need when I'm out there playing, performing." PA Media
Bayley, a former contestant on Strictly Come Dancing who had to settle for silver in the class seven singles on Sunday, subsequently thrashed the world champion Morales 3-0, while the class six singles bronze medallist Karabardak overcame the world No 1 Valera 3-2.
“Paul playing the way he is, and the way he played in the singles, I had no doubts that he could beat Valera. But the way he beat him – he’s a legend,” Bayley said. “I feel I’m playing my best form and I believe we can beat anyone.”
The ParalympicsGB men’s basketball team defeated Canada 66-52 to set up a semi-final against the hosts Japan on Friday.
