Stefanos Tsitsipas took a bathroom break that lasted more than seven minutes after losing the third set of his match against Adrian Mannarino on Wednesday night, earning boos from the Ashe Stadium crowd aware of the controversy that Tsitsipas has found himself in at the U.S. Open. Tsitsipas defeated Mannarino, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-0, to move into the third round .
Tsitsipas has been the focal point of the bathroom-break issue this summer. In his first-round match against Andy Murray he took bathroom breaks at the end of the second and fourth sets and a medical timeout at the end of the the third set. Murray ripped him after losing the grueling match five-set match , saying the break affected him physically.
“I think he’s a brilliant player,” Murray said. “I think he’s great for the game. But I have zero time for that stuff at all, and I lost respect for him.”
Alexander Zverev has also weighed in on the issue and has complained about him before. “It’s happening every match,” Zverev said. “It’s not normal.”
Tsitsipas has denied breaking the rules or using gamesmanship and has also denied Zverev’s allegations that he’s receiving text messages from his coaching father while on break.
The Diego Schwartzman-Kevin Anderson match under the roof of Armstrong Stadium had to be suspended in the second set Wednesday night because the gusty winds of the tropical depression charging through Queens blew rain through the ventilation sidewall areas of the stadium and a mist reached the court. Fans got out their umbrellas and raincoats in their seats. The match resumed at Ashe Stadium after Tsitsipas’ victory, about 2 1/2 hours after it was suspended.
Earlier gusts brought some mist into an upper section of Ashe, bowing some of the ventilation barriers though not enough to cause a disruption in play.
