NEW YORK – Stefanos Tsitsipas heard boos from people for another long off-track trip to the U.S. Open after dropping a set during his second-round win over Adrian Mannarino.
Bewildered by this reaction Wednesday night, or by the criticism he received from Andy Murray after taking breaks while hitting him two days earlier, Tsitsipas noted that he does nothing to violate any regulations.
Which is true. The Grand Slam rulebook only says players should spend a “reasonable” amount of time, but it does not provide an exact number of minutes that would be acceptable.
“If I break a rule, I’m sure I’m guilty. I agree; I’m not doing something right,” Tsitsipas said after hitting 27 aces and beating Mannarino 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (4 ), 6-0 with the roof closed at Arthur Ashe Stadium due to heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Ida. “If I stay within the guidelines, what’s the problem?”
On Wednesday, Tsitsipas took a break in the toilet which created an eight-minute delay between the end of the third set and the start of the fourth. His return was greeted by fans who expressed their displeasure, no doubt aware that three-time senior champion Murray denied what he called “nonsense” by a 23-year-old from Greece.
Murray also said he “lost respect” for Tsitsipas, who is No. 3 in the standings at Flushing Meadows and was runner-up at the French Open in June.
Tsitsipas said he feels refreshed after leaving the field to change clothes.
Asked about the spectators ’boos, he replied,” I haven’t done anything wrong, so I don’t understand it. People love the sport; they come to see tennis. I have nothing against it. I love the fans. But some people don’t understand it. That’s all. They don’t understand it. They haven’t played tennis at a high level to understand how much effort and how much it costs to do what we’re doing. Sometimes we need a little break to do what we have to do. ” .
Mannarino, who got some tennis balls and practiced, serves to keep his shoulder loose while his opponent was out before the fourth set, he accepted that the fault lies with the rule book, not Tsitsipas.
“He’s not doing anything wrong,” the French player said. “I think the rule is incorrect.”
The American Open is the only Grand Slam tournament where Tsitsipas has not yet reached the fourth round. He has been so far at Wimbledon and in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, in addition to his career at Roland Garros before losing to Novak Djokovic in the final.
Now, Tsitsipas will face 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz to tie in the fourth round.
“I want to play the best of my game against him,” Tsitsipas said. “I see him as a possible candidate in the future for Grand Slam titles and other big events.”
In the men’s competition, 11th seed Diego Schwartzman eliminated 2017 runner-up Kevin Anderson in a match that started on a track before 7.30pm and ended in another pass at 1am after an interruption caused by rain and winds.
Schwartzman won 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round.
They started at Louis Armstrong Stadium, which has a retractable roof, but the openings created for natural ventilation allowed rain to come out onto the track. Therefore, the game stopped at 5-5 in the first set to be able to dry the surface. After resuming, the puddles grew too much at the start of the second set, so the action stopped again.
Armstrong was deemed unable to play, so the match moved to Ashe, where they were able to get things back after a nearly 2-and-a-half-hour break while another game ended.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.