An exhausted Andy Murray still had enough left in the tank to blast officials after an epic five-set match at the Australian Open finished after 4am on Friday, well beyond the usual Grand Slam midnight madness.
As fans trudged home for a few hours sleep after watching Murray rally from two sets and 2-5 down to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6 6-7(4) 7-6(5) 6-3 7-5, the fired-up Scot labelled organisers “disrespectful.”
Murray said he respected the rules but criticised having to play until the early hours of the morning “and you’re not allowed to go and take a piss.”
“It’s a joke, it’s a joke. You know it as well,” he added.
“It’s disrespectful to you, disrespectful to the ball children, disrespectful to the players and we are not allowed to go to the toilet.
“Ridiculous!”
The Australian Open routinely has matches run past midnight but former Grand Slam champion John McEnroe called on officials to implement rules so it never happens so late again.
“I am stunned in disbelief that they were still playing at that hour,” McEnroe told Eurosport. “For starters, it was insane that matches at that level are played 4 to 4:30 am in the morning.”
Tournament director Craig Tiley, though, said there was no need to tinker with the schedule at this point.
“At this point, we’ve got to fit those matches in the 14 days, so you don’t have many options,” he told Channel Nine.
