There was a time where even the British tennis star Andy Murray himself thought his best days of tennis were not only behind him, but also that he’d have to leave the sport behind for good. It was the 2019 Australian Open, a tournament where Murray had reached the finals five times and was coming off his second hip surgery in as many years. Prior to the start of that tournament, the then-31-year old announced that that tournament could potentially have been his last
But while Murray doubted his future nearly two and a half years ago, he left little doubt about his ability to play at a high level at the U.S. Open. As a result of his injuries which led to poor showings — as well as missing significant time last year amid the pandemic and early tournament exits — Murray, the former three-time major champion, entered his match against current world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas ranked No. 112 and as an underdog.
Murray dropped a crushing five-set loss to Tsitsipas after taking the first and third sets; Tsitsipas took the second, fourth and fifth, but it was the former’s comments after that got people talking. Murray proved he could hang with top competition once again, but it remains to be seen if that’ll be the prevailing story from the 34-year old’s loss after he accused Tsitsipas of taking too long to go to the bathroom, or that he had taken too long during timeouts and in between games and sets.
Murray also said he had been…
