Andy Murray claimed an epic five-set victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis in Wednesday’s second spherical of the Australian Open. Their battle lasted 5 hours and 45 minutes, so one would assume quite a few toilet breaks can be crucial. But when Murray requested a visit to the restroom at 3 a.m., he was denied — and wasn’t completely happy about it.
Murray let the chair umpire know precisely how he felt when, after his fourth-set win pushed the match to a different set, he was reminded that he already used all of his toilet allocations. He described the state of affairs and rule as “disrespectful.”
“Do you recognize one thing? I respect the principles,” Murray informed the chair umpire. “It’s so disrespectful that the event has us out right here till 3 or 4 o’clock within the morning and we’re not allowed to go and take a piss. It’s a joke.”
Murray’s tackle this rule was hardly a controversial one. Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick agreed that it was “dumb.”
Murray completed the night time with a 4-6, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 7-5 win at 4:05 a.m. native time in Melbourne — which grew to become the second-latest end in Grand Slam tennis historical past. During the press convention after the match, the three-time Grand Slam champion stated {that a} recreation that forces gamers, followers, ball children and officers to remain up so late might be not “helpful” to anyone.
“I do not assume it is superb for the followers. It’s not good for the gamers,” Murray informed reporters. “So, yeah, we speak about it on a regular basis. It’s been spoken about for years. When you begin the night time matches late and have circumstances like that, this stuff are going to occur.”
This is definitely not the primary headline involving a toilet break on this event. There was some controversy on social media when Novak Djokovic was seen strolling off the court docket to go to the toilet throughout his first-round match. Some individuals stated he was breaking the principles and simply left the court docket, however he later defined on social media that the chair umpire gave him permission so long as he hurried up.
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