"Y'all were calling Holger Rune a brat for saying something similar" - Tennis fans react to Andy Murray hitting out at hostile Italian Open crowd

Andy Murray taking issue with his treatment from the spectators present at his Italian Open clash against home favorite Fabio Fognini has caught the attention of tennis fans online.

In a closely contested encounter, Fognini defeated Murray 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the second round in Rome. During the first set, chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani upheld a shot from Fognini that landed just outside the line, despite Hawkeye indicating otherwise. As clay-court tournaments do not employ Hawkeye technology, the umpire maintained his initial call.

"How can you see that ball from there being in? How is it possible," Murray asked Lahyani. "You can see the clay is still there. You can see the ball mark. You know you've got that wrong."

The three-time Grand Slam champion was subjected to boos from the Italian crowd for challenging the umpire. In response to a social media post regarding the situation, Murray expressed that it was unfair for the audience to boo him since Lahyani was responsible for the incident.

"Stadium full of Italians booing and whistling, thinking I'm trying to cheat Fabio out of point all because Mo [Mohamed Lahyani] couldn't read a mark properly. Cheers mate," Murray wrote on Instagram.

A tennis fan shared an image of the comment on Twitter and stated that they loved the Brit's candor.

"I love it when the king spills," the fan tweeted.

I love it when the king spills 🍿 https://t.co/IvnATgUJJN

"Bitter Andy Murray is my favourite Andy Murray," a user commented.

Bitter Andy Murray is my favourite Andy Murray. twitter.com/brooksybradsha…

Several fans brought up the contrasting reactions to Holger Rune's complaints of a hostile crowd at the Madrid Open.

"Y'all were calling holger 75 different flavors of the word brat for saying something similar at madrid hmmmmm," a fan posted.

y'all were calling holger 75 different flavors of the word brat for saying something similar at madrid hmmmmm twitter.com/brooksybradsha…

"But when its Holger all of TT is snickering," another fan chimed in.

but when it’s Holger all of TT is snickering 🙂 twitter.com/brooksybradsha…

Here are some more fan reactions to Andy Murray hitting out at the Italian Open crowd:

@josemorgado This unnecessary drama would not have happened if we just used electronic lines calling. It's not always perfect, but neither is human lines calling.

Plus, why show tv audience the hawkeye just to confirm Mo was wrong?

@brooksybradshaw Players should call out crowds like this more often, go Andy!

@josemorgado Nothing against Murray, but Djokovic hardly never whine like that - just rewatch Wimbledon finals when Djokovic have to play against the whole stadium 🤡🤡

@brooksybradshaw @MurrayMusing Yes, the umpire made a bad call but Murray has to let it not affect him…too many occasions the ball comes out of his pocket, the hat falls off his head and the umpire makes a call and it affects him for the rest of the match to some extent. Should be mentally better.

Amazing. Taking it to Mo *and* the whole of Italy in a single comment twitter.com/brooksybradsha…

Andy’s rightly fuming but I don’t know whether to laugh or cry right now 😭😂 twitter.com/brooksybradsha…

. @andy_murray is not happy and rightly so! Disappointed in MoLay today! twitter.com/brooksybradsha…

Feel it’s a good time to roll this one out as well. Raging Andy will always be one of my favourite Andys. https://t.co/fbeRgegQwY

"It was a pretty patchy match" - Andy Murray dissects his performance against Fabio Fognini at the Italian Open

In an interview with The Guardian, Andy Murray admitted to not playing at his best level during his first-round clash against Fabio Fognini.

“It was a pretty patchy match,” Murray said. “There was some good stuff in there but also some pretty average stuff. He played very well in the third set. My level was OK in the third, but he played really well in the third.”

The 35-year-old also shared his uncertainty regarding whether he would opt to accept a wildcard entry into another tournament, compete at the 2023 French Open, or prioritize his preparation for the upcoming grass-court season.

"I’d still like to play but we did agree that we’d talk and make a decision as a team after Rome,” he added.

The former World No. 1 currently holds an 8-7 win/loss record for the season.