CNN —
Andy Murray was furious after being denied a chance to use the toilet in the middle of his five-set marathon against Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Australian Open.
The former world No. 1 had fought back against Kokkinakis from a two-set deficit to leave a crucial fifth set between him and victory.
In the break before the last frame, Murray asked to use the restroom, only to be told by the chair umpire that he wasn’t allowed since he had already been in the match once.
“You know what? I respect the rules. It’s a joke, it’s a joke and you know it too,” said the 35-year-old to the referee.
“It’s so disrespectful that the tournament has us out here until three, four damn in the morning and we’re not allowed to pee.
“It’s disrespectful to you, it’s disrespectful to the ball kids, it’s disrespectful to the players and we’re not allowed to go to the toilet. It is ridiculous.”
2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick agreed with Murray’s complaints. write on twitter: “Right. That’s just so stupid.”
It’s not the first time during this Grand Slam that restrictions on players using the toilet have made headlines after Novak Djokovic appeared to have taken matters into his own hands to take an early toilet break in his first-round win .
The Serb asked to go to the toilet after just five games in his match against Roberto Carballés Baena on Tuesday, but the referee didn’t seem to hear Djokovic so he heard ‘hello’ say three times to get their attention before Djokovic said, “I’m going to the bathroom.”
The 21-time Grand Slam winner ran off the field while the referee called out “Novak” after him. Despite the referee being able to say he had 30 seconds to return, Djokovic was back on the pitch before the timer was up and comfortably won the following game.
Afterwards, Djokovic denied that he had defied the referee’s orders when he went to the toilet.
“So she told me (you didn’t capture that on camera) I have to hurry. When I was about to leave the court, she called me (I didn’t hear) and wanted to tell me that the toilet is on the opposite side of the court,” Djokovic wrote on Instagram.
“I also found one where I went and I had to be quick because of the time. I didn’t defy her or the rules. She gave me permission and told me to hurry.”
The outburst or inability to go to the bathroom didn’t hamper Murray in the final set, however, as he claimed a famous victory that lasted a total of five hours and 45 minutes – the longest match of Murray’s illustrious career.
The match, which took place after 4am in Melbourne, was another reminder of the qualities we came to know Murray for: guts, determination and that “never give up” attitude.
Murray now plays 24th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.