Andy Murray Blames Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Long Breaks For Five-Setter Loss

Veteran tennis star Andy Murray appears to have his illustrious career winding down.

After making his way back to professional tennis following a series of serious injuries, Murray is simply not the same player. But his fight and classic determination remain. And all of that was on full display during hie five-set loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the U.S. Open.

In the marathon first-round match, Tsitsipas was able to slightly edge out Andy Murray 2-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, with the match lasting nearly five hours.

After the match, Andy Murray lashed out against the breaks Stefanos Tsitsipas took after sets, claiming that the Greek phenom’s antics were a big reason why he lost the match.

“The issue is that you cannot stop the way that that affects you physically,” Andy Murray said via ESPN. “When you’re playing a brutal match like that, you know, stopping for seven, eight minutes, you do cool down. You can prepare for it mentally as much as you like, but it’s the fact that it does affect you physically when you take a break that long, well, multiple times during the match.

“I think when he took the medical timeout, it was just after I had won the third set. Also in the fourth set when I had Love-30, he chose to go — 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.

“I don’t believe [his foot] was causing him any issue at all. The match went on for another two and a bit hours after that or something. He was fine, moving great I thought.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas responded to Andy Murray’s claims, saying that everything he did was completely within the rules.

“I don’t think I broke any rules,” he said. “I played by the guidelines, how everything is. Yeah, definitely something for both of us to kind of chat about and make sure. I don’t know how my opponent feels when I’m out there playing the match. It’s not really my priority.

“As far as I’m playing by the rules and sticking to what the ATP says is fair, then the rest is fine.”

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