A FUMING ANDY Murray accused Fabio Fognini of shouting during a critical point as the Briton went down fighting in three bitter sets at the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday.
The two players confronted one another in a lengthy exchange by the net near the end of a bad-tempered match that stretched past three hours, with Murray telling Fognini to “shut up”.
The 12th-ranked Fognini plays the unseeded American Taylor Fritz or Russian seventh seed Karen Khachanov in the last 16 after a contentious 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 7-6 (7/2) victory.
But Murray, 32, on the comeback from career-saving hip surgery in January, said: “Someone made a noise, I didn’t know who made the noise, I looked in the direction of where the noise came from.
“He then told me, ‘Stop looking at me, what are you looking at me for?’
“I was like, ‘I was just about to hit a shot and someone made a noise’. He then told me to stop looking at him,” Murray added.
“The sound came from him, which you’re not allowed to do, it’s against the rules, it’s hindrance, you shouldn’t do it.”
The three-time Grand Slam winner was frustrated the chair umpire failed to intervene as the match turned increasingly sour.
Tuesday should have been a day for minor celebration after the Australian Open said that Murray will make his return to Grand Slam tennis there in January, a year after surgery.
“Fabio wanted to engage with me, I probably shouldn’t have done, but I am not having him talk to me like that on court,” said Murray of their exchange.
The former number one was also annoyed he repeatedly served for the match but failed to win.
“I want to say that’s the first time ever in my career that that’s happened,” Murray said.
“I think it’s the first time I served for a match twice and not won.”
Eoin Toolan and Murray Kinsella join Gavan Casey to give an in-depth breakdown of where Ireland’s play stacks up against the contenders in Japan, and look into why New Zealand and England are primed for World Cup success.
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