A spate of top names, including 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem, have spoken on the issue since Andy Murray’s initial furore. The Scot was visibly frustrated at the end of his first-round encounter against Tsitsipas, and during his presser he reflected negatively on the Greek’s toilet breaks.
Alexander Zverev is the latest to add to the discussion. During his press conference after beating Sam Querrey in the first round, Zverev doubled down on some of his earlier accusations against Tsitsipas.
The German first took a jibe at his fellow Next Gen star while answering a question about possible challengers for Novak Djokovic at this year’s US Open. Zverev stated Tsitsipas can play well “if he doesn’t go to the moon and back for a toilet break”, in an obvious reference to the Greek’s recent on-court behavior.
On being asked to elaborate on his comments, Zverev claimed the first-round match against Murray wasn’t the first time that Tsitsipas had taken a long toilet break.
Zverev further suggested that Tsitsipas, despite being one of the best players in the world, was acting like a junior. The Olympic champion added that even though there was no law about the duration of toilet breaks, there was still “an unwritten rule” that was followed by the players.
He finished by asserting that he believes in winning or losing by “playing tennis on the tennis court”.
“Either it’s a very magical place Stefanos Tsitsipas goes to or there is communication there” - Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev also repeated his accusations from the Cincinnati event last week, where he had claimed Stefanos Tsitsipas receives coaching from his father Apostolos Tsitsipas during the toilet breaks.
During their Cincinnati semifinal match, the German had objected to Tsitispas carrying his bag - with all his belongings including his phone - off court to the toilet. He revisited his claims on Tuesday, saying that his opponent was gone for a long time and had completely changed his tactics on returning to the court.
Zverev later tried to underplay his comments, adding that while he did not mean to disrespect Tsitsipas, there was a certain level of respect he expects from his opponents.
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