‘I haven’t done anything wrong’: Stefanos Tsitsipas defends extended bathroom breaks at U.S. Open
what many players on tour see as a stall tactic — and a violation of tennis’ unwritten rules — asked for balls so he could practice serves while his opponent was off the court.
Tsitsipas returned from his break to boos from the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I haven’t done anything wrong, so I don’t understand,” Tsitsipas said in a post-match press conference. “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. That’s all. They 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.”
Murray said he’d lost all respect for Tsitsipas, and on Tuesday morning, said that it takes Tsitsipas “twice as long to go to the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bezos to fly into space.”Sloane Stephens ousts Coco Gauff in straight sets
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The majority of the questions directed Tsitsipas’ way in his post-match press conference were bathroom-related, which seemed to frustrate the Greek player. At one point, a moderator needed to step in, and advised journalists to not belabor the point.
“It is important,” Tsitsipas said of taking his break. “First of all, you carry less weight on you with all the sweat. You feel rejuvenated, you feel fresh, and you don’t have all the sweat bothering you and coming in your face, on your fingers, everywhere all over your body. It makes you feel better.
“For me it is important to take that break. For someone else probably not. And everyone has his own time. I try and be as quick as I can. Sometimes I just need a bit more time. That’s all.”
Tsitsipas fielded a question about the notion of breaking an unwritten rule, and maintained that he had done nothing wrong.
“I’ve done everything the right way,” he said. “If I haven’t, I should be penalized. I completely agree with it. I should get a fine or penalized if I haven’t followed whatever I’ve done correctly. But as far as I know, you know, it is a necessity, it is a need when I’m out there playing, performing.”
When pressed about Murray’s comments by reporter Ben Rothenberg, Tsitsipas insinuated that Murray had taken a long bathroom break himself, in the 2012 U.S. Open men’s final against Novak Djokovic.
“I have a question for you,” Tsitsipas said. “I don’t watch other people’s business. But I remember watching it when I was younger. Can you please check when Andy Murray faced Novak Djokovic at the final here, before the fifth set, that break, can you please look it up and let me know next time?”
“I did,” Rothenberg replied. “He took less than three minutes.”
“Less than three minutes, OK,” Tsitsipas said. “So, three minutes more make a difference?”
Tsitsipas is scheduled to play No. 55 Carlos Alcaraz in the third round of the Open this week. It’s likely that more attention will be paid to his time spent off the court, than on it.
Follow Alex Coffey on Twitter @byalexcoffey