Andy Murray claimed an epic five-set victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis in Wednesday’s second round of the Australian Open. Their battle lasted five hours and 45 minutes, so one would think numerous bathroom breaks would be necessary. But when Murray requested a trip to the restroom at 3 a.m., he was denied — and wasn’t happy about it.
Murray let the chair umpire know exactly how he felt when, after his fourth-set win pushed the match to another set, he was reminded that he already used all of his bathroom allocations. He described the situation and rule as “disrespectful.”
“Do you know something? I respect the rules,” Murray told the chair umpire. “It’s so disrespectful that the tournament has us out here until 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning and we’re not allowed to go and take a piss. It’s a joke.”
Murray’s take on this rule was hardly a controversial one. Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick agreed that it was “dumb.”
Murray finished the night with a 4-6, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 7-5 win at 4:05 a.m. local time in Melbourne — which became the second-latest finish in Grand Slam tennis history. During the press conference after the match, the three-time Grand Slam champion said that a game that forces players, fans, ball kids and officials to stay up so late is probably not “beneficial” to anybody.
“I don’t think it’s amazing for the fans. It’s not good for the players,” Murray told reporters. “So, yeah, we talk about it all the time. It’s been spoken about for years. When you start the night matches late and have conditions like that, these things are going to happen.”
This is actually not the first headline involving a bathroom break in this tournament. There was some controversy on social media when Novak Djokovic was seen walking off the court to go to the bathroom during his first-round match. Some people said he was breaking the rules and just left the court, but he later explained on social media that the chair umpire gave him permission as long as he hurried up.
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