Stefanos Tsitsipas seems to find more and more people supporting him after the nasty controversy about his long toilet breaks. Stefanos was badly accused by Sascha Zverev of cheating when he got a long toilet break after losing the first set against him in the Cincinnati semifinal. The German player was even hinting that Tsitsipas was getting coached via text during his break.
Andy Murray was rather vocal and nasty against Stefanos when he got a toilet break in the 5th set. The former world no.1 didn’t like the fact that the long break made his body getting cold.
Stefanos Tsitsipas strongly denied any wrongdoing.
TOILET BREAKS. Why Tsitsipas was not wrong
Tennis legend Mats Wilander (7 slams under his belt) came in support of Tsitsipas, saying that the Greek sensation indeed needs changing. He said:
“Tsitsipas does sweat and sweat, so he does need to go and change his shorts, underwear, shirt. I guess some people can do that in seven minutes, some people take a little longer.”
Wilander added that Murray probably didn’t manage the situation well:
“I don’t feel Andy showed inexperience because he has played for so long, but he got so irritated, he wasn’t moving around, maybe he could have hit a few serves. Maybe he was too much in the moment somehow and it irritated him – you just can’t let that happen.”
About Nadal and Djokovic
Wilander added that it is normal for champions to stretch the rules.
“At the same time, all the top players always something that stretches the rules,
not intentionally, but they go about their business, they are in the moment.
Nadal sometimes takes too long, Djokovic takes a few injury time outs, McEnroe was screaming, Connors did his thing – it’s what champions do. Tsitsipas was in the moment. Murray may have been too involved in the moment. I’m not too sure it would have made a difference in the end,” he added.
Tsitsipas at the U.S. Open, ranking, and results in 2021
At the moment ranked no.3 (career-high), Tsitsipas owns an overall 49-14 win-loss record in 2021. Tsitsipas is now competing at the U.S. Open where he toppled Andy Murray 2-6 7-67 3-6 6-3 6-4.
Stefanos Tsitsipas will come up against the world no.44 Adrian Mannarino in the 2nd round on Wednesday at 9:00 pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Their actual record is 1-1.
Stefanos has won 2 titles in 2021 in Monte-Carlo and in Lyon. Stefanos was the runner-up in Acapulco (Abierto Mexicano Telcel), in Barcelona (Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell) and at the French Open.
Stefanos won 7 titles in his career: 3 on clay courts and 4 on indoor courts. (See the list of his titles)
Andy Murray in 2021
Currently ranked no.112, Murray played his last match on the 30th of August when he capitulated to world no.3 Stefanos Tsitsipas 2-6 7-6(7) 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the 1st round in U.S. Open (draw).
At the moment, during this season the Brit has managed to achieve a compiled 10-8 win-loss record. Andy Murray’s most significant performance of the year was getting to the final in the Biella 1 Challenger.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andy Murray played each other only on 1 occasion. Their current record is 1-0 for Tsitsipas. When they played, Stefanos Tsitsipas won 2-6 7-6(7) 3-6 6-3 6-4 in the 1st round in New York (U.S. Open) on the 30th of August 2021.
In the video below you can watch the highlights.