“Either Tsitsipas was in the magic room, or…”

With long toilet breaks, Andy Murray resented Stefanos Titiseba’s opponent at the US Open, but was unaware of any guilt afterward. Alexander Zverev also goes against the trend.

Before the decisive fifth set of his opening match at the US Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas disappears into the catacombs in a duel with Andy Murray – and simply does not return. The Greek misses for more than seven minutes and sends off his truly experienced opponent.

While he was still on the field, Murray said, “Every time he goes for 20 minutes. I’ve never used a toilet for that long in my life. What is he doing there?” When Tsitsipas finally appears again, Murray immediately takes the decisive break. A little later I lost the game.

“I lost all respect for him,” the three-time Grand Slam winner has yet to recover after match point. “I’m not saying I won, but what happened after the breaks had an impact on the outcome of the match,” he adds.

On the other hand, Tsitsipas does not want to be accused of anything. “I don’t think I broke any rules. I don’t know how my opponent feels during the match. To be honest, that’s not my biggest concern,” he contends, unimpressed.

However, Murray is not the only one having difficulties with the recent behavior of the current world number 3 seed. “It happens in every match, it’s not normal. Against me and Novak Djokovic at the French Open, in Hamburg against Filip Krajinovic, and then again against me at Cincinnati and now against Andy Murray in New York,” Alexander Zverev also complained after his Sovereign win over Sam Querrey.

The German is facing something similar to Murray in Cincinnati, at which time the Greek remained twelve minutes from the field. “It makes me vomit. Tsitsipas doesn’t need it. It’s not No. 3 for nothing,” Zverev says when asked about the renewed long toilet break.

It’s not just about not breaking any rules. “It’s about respect between the players and towards our sport. Maybe he just goes to the bathroom, but that happens a lot. (…]It could happen in junior tournaments or future tournaments, but not here. It’s an unwritten law.”

Recently Zverev even suspected that Tsitsipas was training during breaks. “Everyone saw that his dad was texting in Cincinnati and after the break, Stefanos played a completely different tactic. Either he was in a magic room or…” For the 24-year-old, that’s ridiculous. “I destroyed thugs, and I wasn’t always nice to journalists, but there is one thing you cannot say about me: I cheated. I win or lose with tennis. And it will always remain that way.”