‘Didn’t do anything wrong’ – US open star hit back at Andy Murray after rule break accusation

Andy Murray will be grateful that his various US Open spats are all water under the Brooklyn Bridge after two separate fiery feuds.

The retired Scot experienced the highest highs and lowest lows at Flushing Meadows, which was the site of his first Grand Slam win.

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Murray finally ended his Slam hoodoo at the 2012 US Open, having lost in four finals prior to the first of his three major titles.

However, his later appearances in New York made headlines for all the wrong reasons following a series of early exits.

After his run to the US Open quarter-finals in 2016, Murray failed to get past the third round in any of his five outings until his retirement.

The 38-year-old’s frustrations began to bubble up across those appearances, having crashed out in the second round in 2018.

Murray was competing in his first tennis major in 14 months when he suffered a surprising 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 4-6 defeat to Fernando Verdasco.

The extreme heat conditions in New York meant the two players were afforded a 10-minute rest break after the third set.

Murray was left aggrieved by the then-ranked world 32nd Verdasco talking to his coach during that period, which is against the rules.

When the Brit returned to court, he complained to the umpire Nico Helwerth: “I had to tell them because no one knows the f***ing rules.”

“Yeah, I went for a shower. He was having an ice bath,” Murray said post-match. “When I came out of the shower, his coach and his – I don’t know if he’s playing doubles with him, but one of the Spanish doubles players was in there chatting to him, and you’re not allowed to speak to your coach. I went and told the supervisor.

“I said, ‘What are you guys doing? I mean, there’s clear rules here and you’re allowing this to take place. I don’t get it’. Then he ran through, ‘Oh, you’re not allowed to speak’.

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Murray accused Verdasco of breaking the rules

“I checked the rules beforehand, and I spoke to my team. We were clear you don’t speak to your coaches whatever. They obviously weren’t in there for long, but you got to do better than that.

“This is one of the biggest events in the world. If you have rules like that, you need to stick with them because one player getting to speak to the coach and the other not is not fair.

“I’m not blaming Fernando and his team. They probably weren’t aware that that was the rules. They certainly weren’t trying to break any rules.

“It shouldn’t be for the player that’s competing against him to have to go to the supervisor. If I hadn’t said anything, they would have been chatting, chatting about the match, giving tactics and stuff.

“I shouldn’t be in that position in the middle of a match at a Slam having to make sure they’re doing their job.”

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Verdasco later hit back at any suggestions he’d broken US Open rules by insisting that Murray had misconstrued what he’d seen.

Verdasco said: “Obviously, if Andy says that, I don’t want to say that he lies, but I didn’t talk one word with my coach or any one member of my team.

“I know exactly the rule and I don’t want to be the one breaking it.”

Murray later wrote on Instagram: “I’m off to get a health check as apparently I’ve started imagining things,” alongside the hashtag ‘liarliarpantsonfire’.

Three years later, Murray was much more direct in accusing a US Open rival of ‘cheating’ following a lengthy toilet break.

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Murray ‘lost respect’ for Tsitsipas

The two-time Olympic gold medalist was left enraged by then-third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas having an eight-minute toilet break before the fifth set of their first-round match, which the Greek edged 2-6 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 6-3 6-4.

“It’s not so much leaving the court, it’s the amount of time,” Murray said. “I spoke to my team before the match about it and said to expect that, prepare for it if things were not going his way. So I was trying to do that.

“But the issue is that you cannot stop the way that affects you physically. When you’re playing a brutal match like that, you know, stopping for seven, eight minutes, you do cool down.

“Every single time it was before my serve, as well. Also in the fourth set, when I had 0-30, he chose to go, and I think he changed his racket.

“It can’t be a coincidence that it’s happening at those moments.

“I rate him a lot. I think he’s a brilliant player. I think he’s great for the game. But I have zero time for that stuff at all, and I lost respect for him.”

“I didn’t want to do press tonight because I know I’m going to sit here and it’s going to seem like I’m just smashing him, it sounds like sour grapes because you’ve lost a match and everything,” Murray added.

“I would have said the same thing if I’d won, I promise. It was nonsense, and he knows it.”

Murray retired in 2024 after the Paris Olympics to end an incredible career that was ultimately blighted by injuries over his later years.