Stefanos Tsitsipas criticizes Fergus Murphy for having "no clue about tennis", chair umpire tells him to "watch more matches"

On Wednesday, Stefanos Tsitsipas became the latest player to get into it with a chair umpire during an eventual exit at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. The 26-year-old met his match in Daniil Medvedev and Fergus Murphy, who was more than prepared to respond to the Greek’s gripes.

Tsitsipas was eliminated by Medvedev, as the 2019 champion improved to 10-4 in their series. The fifth seed lined up a US Open rematch with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner after clinching the fourth-round contest, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

The drama between Tsitsipas and Murphy unfolded in the fourth game of the second set with the No. 10 seed up a break. At 15-30, Tsitsipas was issued a time violation warning which resulted in the loss of his first serve.

“Why are you doing this to me, man?” the two-time major finalist asked after approaching.

Why are you guys against me so much? The last few months have been terrible. I don’t understand what’s gotten into you. —Stefanos Tsitsipas to Fergus Murphy

Read More: Tiafoe "extremely disappointed" with himself after cursing out umpire

As Murphy explained that the clock begins automatically, Tsitsipas alleged umpires were “against me so much” and claimed that he hadn’t seen his opponents receive the same treatment.

The Irishman was quick to shoot down that argument, having initially encouraged Tsitsipas “to listen.”

“Well maybe if you watch more matches. We give lots of time violations,” Murphy replied. “You have to keep watching the clock. And keep up.”

Tsitsipas would immediately double fault and was broken on the next point when Medvedev nailed a forehand passing shot. The quick turn of events led Tsitsipas to air further displeasure towards Murphy, all while refusing to play until a supervisor came to the court.

Medvedev remained on his end at the service line while this all played out.

“My issue is the double fault you just took away from me. That’s the issue. Have you never played tennis in your life?” said Tsitsipas, which Murphy flat-out rejected: “I have.”

“You have no clue about tennis it seems like,” Tsitsipas continued.

Murphy kept the responses coming. “I’m not as good as you are, but I’ve played.”

That comment earned a peculiar reply from Tsitsipas. “Definitely you have no cardio. You probably serve and volley all the time.”

The exchange came a day after Frances Tiafoe exploded with a series of f-bombs at chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote following his loss to Roman Safiullin.

Later Tuesday, Alexander Zverev went off on Mohamed Lahyani whilst criticizing him and the work of the Swede’s peers throughout the season. The No. 2 seed managed to advance via a final-set tiebreaker over Tallon Griekspoor.

Read More: Umpire scoring error mars Shanghai clash as Cobolli edges Wawrinka

While Tsitsipas and Murphy butted heads on Sunday, there was nothing cold about the rapport between Tsitsipas and Medvedev—despite their sometimes frosty relationship—much to the delight of fans in Shanghai.

When the two shared a side-hug during other the pre-match photo, the crowd roared with elation to witnessing a warm and fuzzy “Stefaniil” moment. After their clash was completed, Medvedev and Tsitsipas exchanged a warm handshake and slight embrace.

"I consider him someone that I respect on the tour, much more than I did before," Tsitsipas said ahead of their match. "We've had some heated things on the court in the past, but I think those things have resolved themselves over time, and obviously we also had the time to speak about those things and have a common understanding of why these things happen."