Andy Murray fumed at a referee today, saying it was “so disrespectful” he wasn’t allowed to go to the toilet during his Australian Open match – despite the match lasting almost six hours.
The international competition descended into farce, with the British tennis player also being met with heckling from rowdy tennis fans during his match today against Australian tennis player Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Murray was furious that the match – the longest the Briton has ever played in his career at 5 hours and 45 minutes – started in the early hours of the morning in Melbourne and the star eventually defeated Kokkinakis at 4.08am local time.
Sitting down after winning the fourth set, Murray said it was “a joke” that Australian Open tournament rules stipulated players were not allowed to take a toilet break – despite players playing for more than five hours.
“I mean, you know something,” Murray told the referee as he raised his finger. “I respect the rules. It’s so disrespectful that the tournament has us out here until 3, bloody 4 am and we can’t pee.
“It’s a ๐ฃ๐จ๐ค๐… It’s ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ!” ๐ก
Andy Murray is furious because he wasn’t allowed a toilet break at the end of the fourth set during his late night encounter against Thanasi Kokkinakis… #OffOpen | @AndyMurray pic.twitter.com/Q56CjltfFA
โ Eurosport (@eurosport) January 19, 2023
Andy Murray fumed at a referee today, saying it was “so disrespectful” he wasn’t allowed to go to the toilet during his Australian Open match – despite the match lasting more than five hours
Murray was furious that the match – the longest the Brit has ever played in his career – in Melbourne, Australia, went past 4am local time
Spectators in the crowd show their support during the second round singles match between Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia and Andy Murray
“That’s a joke,” Murray added when the referee nodded. “It’s a joke and you know it. It’s disrespectful. It’s disrespectful to you, it’s disrespectful to the ball kids, it’s disrespectful to the players. And we are not allowed to go to the toilet. Ridiculous.’
It comes after Novak Djokovic flouted the rules and went to the toilet during his match against Roberto Caballes Baena.
Meanwhile, Australian tennis fans roared when Murray dropped a point to distract the Brit during the match, which started at 10pm local time.
But Murray remained unfazed and won an exceptional rally in which he saved four shots, with the British player taunting the crowd by raising his hand to his ears and shouting “What?” – while Kokkinakis angrily smashed his bat to the ground.
Murray kept going and was able to bounce back after two sets to win the match 4-6 6-7(4) 7-6(5) 6-3 7-5.
Australian tennis fans roared every time Murray dropped a point to distract the Brit during the game. But Murray remained unfazed and won an exceptional rally in which he saved four shots, with the British player taunting the crowd by raising his hand to his ears and shouting “What?” (left) – while Kokkinakis smashed his bat in anger (right)
An Australian fan gestures during the second round match between Andy Murray of Great Britain and Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Australian Open today
Australian fans cheer in the stands during the men’s singles match between Britain’s Andy Murray and Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis in Melbourne today
During the game, Murray faced a barrage of abuse from Australian fans. Other fans took to Twitter to say the crowd was “out of control.”
“The crowd at the Kokkinakis/Murray match needs to shut up! Some crowd emotions are good but they are out of control at the moment and affecting the game,” one fan tweeted.
Another tweeted: “The crowd at this game between Kokkinakis and Murray is freakin’ unbearable.”
After spending more than 10 hours on the pitch, Murray must now somehow try to recover for a third-round clash with Roberto Bautista Agut, the player he lost to in 2019 when it seemed like his career ended.
Meanwhile, Djokovic today demanded that ‘drunk’ tennis fans who wore him in ‘Where’s Wally’ costumes be kicked out of the Australian Open stadium.
Djokovic requested referee Fergus Murphy to remove a spectator from Rod Laver Arena during his match against French player Enzo Couacaud. He told the officer: “The guy is insanely drunk. He provoked. He just wants to get inside my head.
Tempers flared during Djokovic’s game against French player Enzo Couacaud when the Serbian player shouted at the referee to remove the fans from the stadium
Tennis star Novak Djokovic today demanded that “drunk” tennis fans who jibe at him in “Where’s Wally” costumes be ejected from the Australian Open stadium
A security officer speaks to four fans wearing Where’s Wally costumes at Rod Laver Arena
“The guy is ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง๐ค ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐… he’s not here to watch tennis!”
An angry Novak Djokovic asks the referee to remove a vocal spectator from the audience ๐ค#OffOpen | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/IiASc4pyEj
โ Eurosport (@eurosport) January 19, 2023
Andy Murray of Great Britain reacts in Thursday’s singles second round match against Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia
‘What are you going to do about it? Why don’t you get security to get him out of the stadium?’
A security officer then spoke to a group of fans dressed up as Where’s Wally to calm things down. The group of fans eventually exited the arena.
Despite the drunks’ best efforts, they couldn’t stop Djokovic from advancing to the third round, with the Serb beating Enzo Couacaud 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2 6-0.
Speaking about the rowdy crowd, Djokovic said after the game: “What I have a problem with is when someone crosses the line multiple times… and says things that weren’t respectful at all.”
Djokovic, who said the heckling lasted more than an hour and a half, added: “I’ve had enough, you know?”
It comes after a group of British fans were thrown out of a stadium for chanting “You’re just as *** Andy Murray” at Cameron Norrie during his victorious match against a French player at the Australian Open yesterday.
The British no1 faced a mixture of support and abuse from rioting fans during his match against unseeded Frenchman Constant Lestienne, which he won by three in a set on Wednesday.
After Norries took a 4-3 lead over Lestienne in the first set, three British fans could be heard loudly cheering the British tennis player during his second round match.
But the trio, beer cans in hand, began berating Norrie as he dropped points, yelling that he was “just like Andy Murray” and was thrown out of the stadium by security guards
The British number one (pictured during his game on January 18) faced a mixture of support and abuse from rioting fans during his match against unseeded Frenchman Constant Lestienne, which he won by three in a set
But the trio, beer cans in hand, began berating Norrie as he dropped points, yelling that he was “just like Andy Murray” and was thrown out of the stadium by security guards.
The rowdy fans also flocked to Lestienne after they kept chanting “England” and “Constant’s going home.”
Norrie took it in good spirits, saying: โThere were a lot of English fans in the first set. And they kept the football chants going, which was a lot of fun, and then obviously they got kicked out.
โI could still hear them in the second movement. But it was a great atmosphere. It’s obviously great that they stay on one of the outside courts and support them, especially when they play so late and cold and all, so it definitely spurred me on and got me through, especially in that third set.
Lestienne didn’t take it that well. He received a time penalty from the referee and at one point refused to play, leading to some fans harassing the French player.
Constant Lestienne of France talks to the chair umpire in their second round singles match against Cameron Norrie of Australia January 18
“It’s all a bit awkward with viewers berating Lestienne after he refused to play,” said BBC commentator David Law during the game.
“Lestienne’s irritation is visible to all, he’s babbling at the referee and I don’t think he wants to be out there.
“Someone in the crowd just yelled, ‘Come on buddy, we’ve been waiting for this all day.’ The locals are not happy. Lestienne is angry and his mood is getting worse.’
Norrie wrapped up the game at 1.28am Wednesday morning with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 win over Lestienne.