Stefanos Tsitsipas reacts to humorous tweet about the duration of his bathroom breaks, says they've pissed off his girlfriend since "day 1"
Stefanos Tsitsipas's 2021 season will be remembered for several reasons. He reached his maiden Grand Slam final, won his first Masters 1000 title and became the second ever player to overturn a two-set deficit against Rafael Nadal at a Major.
But what truly gained him notoriety this year were his bathroom breaks. In his first-round match against Andy Murray at the US Open, Tsitsipas found himself caught in controversy for taking two lengthy toilet-breaks.
Murray blamed the World No. 3 for deliberately taking up too much time as a tactic to ensure that the Brit lost momentum.
Later in the US Open, the 23-year-old was again criticized for taking a needlessly long break, this time in the match against Adrian Mannarino.
Four months since, Tsitsipas seems to have finally gotten over the bad memories associated with the incident. So much so that he has even taken to social media to joke about it.
Recently, one of the writers for Tennis Majors tweeted in jest about the duration of Tsistsipas's breaks. He compared them to the duration of the break taken by the character playing Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the film "King Richard".
"My only criticism of King Richard is that Arantxa Sanchez Vicario's bathroom break lasted longer in movie time than Stefanos Tsitsipas' bathroom breaks last in real time," the tweet read.
Tsitsipas shared the tweet on his Instagram story as well as retweeted it, saying that it was something his girlfriend hated too.
"Ask my girlfriend regarding bathroom breaks… it’s been pissing her off since day one," Tsitsipas wrote on Twitter.
Ask my girlfriend regarding bathroom breaks… it’s been pissing her off since day one. twitter.com/Dimonator/stat…
Stefanos Tsitsipas maintains that he never did anything untoward by taking extended bathroom breaks
Stefanos Tsitsipas has remained firm in his stand throughout the controversy.
The Greek defended himself, saying that he tried to be as quick as possible and the only reason he took the breaks was because it was necessary. He dismissed the accusations of him trying to break his opponents' momentum as mere conjecture.
After toilet turmoil took centre stage at the US Open, the ATP has announced new rules for bathroom breaks in 2022:
⏱️ 3 minute time limit
1️⃣ bathroom break per match
+ 2️⃣ additional minutes to change clothes
Good move?
Meanwhile, the ATP has taken matters into its own hands to try and prevent similar controversies in the future. According to the new rules, players will only be allowed one break during matches.
The break cannot last more than five minutes and has to be taken at the end of a set. Any non-adherence to the rule will result in a time violation.