Hey there, fellow tennis enthusiasts It’s your girl Mia Johnson-Carter from Miami, and I’m super excited to share the latest updates from the world of tennis. Whether you’re a junior player looking to make it big or just a fan of the game, there’s always something new and exciting happening.
Recently, there was a heated dispute between Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas and the chair umpire Fergus Murphy during the Shanghai Masters round-of-16 match against Daniil Medvedev. The tension was palpable as Tsitsipas felt that Murphy made a “very smart decision” by hitting him with a time violation, which he believed disrupted the momentum of the match.
Tsitsipas, ranked No. 12 in the world, was going toe-to-toe with Medvedev in an extremely tight battle. After losing the first set via a tie-break, he managed to bounce back at the start of the second set with an early break. However, when serving at 2-1 and with Medvedev having a 15/30 lead on Tsitsipas’ serve, the No. 10 seed was slapped with a time violation because Murphy felt he was too slow and let the shot clock expire.
To say the least, Tsitsipas wasn’t happy with the call. “Why are you doing this to me man? I’m the best about this on tour, the most consistent player about this on tour,” Tsitsipas told the chair umpire. But Murphy had an explanation, saying he just followed the rules and made the call after the clock hit the zero mark: “The clock starts automatically, just listen. It might help if you listen. The clock starts automatically. I have no control over that.”
The dispute didn’t end there as Tsitsipas started claiming that the umpires had something against him. The chair umpire from his Shanghai match denied that was the case. Tsitsipas also questioned Murphy’s understanding of tennis, saying, “You have no clue about tennis it seems like. You probably never played the game – which the umpire himself denied.”
Tsitsipas concluded his argument with a blunt message for Murphy: “I hope you get fired. I really wish it.” This outburst clearly reflected his frustration and disappointment with what he felt was an unfair call.
Moments after their argument, the world No. 12 got broken back and wasn’t the same from that moment onward as Medvedev went on to routinely complete a two-set win.
“It wasn’t a smart decision, he made drama and disrupted me,” Tsitsipas said afterward. “The umpire definitely wasn’t very smart of the decision he took today during the match. Very disappointing to see that an umpire had to come to a decision like that during such a good match, because both of us were giving it out all on the court, and it felt like we were able to produce a good match from that point onwards.”
Tsitsipas acknowledged that the shot clock probably came down to zero but felt that Murphy “should have used common sense” and allowed him that additional second or two. He also expressed understanding if Medvedev had faced a similar situation but felt it was unnecessary given their physical match.
After getting broken back in the fourth game of the second set, Tsitsipas managed to hold his serve in the sixth game and tie the second set at three games apiece. However, he didn’t manage to do the same two games later as Medvedev opened a 5-3 lead before closing out the match on his serve in the ninth game.
So far during the Asian swing, Tsitsipas picked up a first-round loss in Tokyo and made it to the Shanghai round-of-16—continuing his inconsistent season. It remains to be seen if he can change something before the season ends.
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