Andy Murray furious with umpire at ‘3am’ Aus Open clash as tensions flare vs Kokkinakis | Tennis | Sport

Andy Murray looked towards the umpire’s chair and complained about his match being played “at 3am” as he dumped the ball in the net during the fourth set of his Australian Open clash with Thanasi Kokkinakis. The former world No 1 came from 2-5 down in the third set to force a fourth at close to 2am Melbourne time and voiced his frustration with the late-night schedule as tensions boiled over at the start of the fourth.

Murray took issue with the time mid-way through his Australian Open second-round match against Kokkinakis as the five-time finalist in Melbourne started complaining about how late it was early in the fourth set. The world No 66 stormed back from 2-5 down in the third set to stay alive and win it in a tiebreak at 1.50am local time in the second and final night session match of the day on Margaret Court Arena.

The night session had already been delayed by the three-day sessions running long, and Murray and Kokkinakis themselves were embroiled in a lengthy battle lasting more than four hours by the time they started the fourth set. After swings in momentum and hours of play, tensions started to flare as the three-time Major champion shouted towards the umpire’s chair when he netted the ball while in a commanding position on the Aussie’s serve.

“No,” he screamed in frustration, before shouting: “Why are we playing at 3am?” While it hadn’t quite reached 3am in Melbourne yet, the 46-time title winner had a valid point.

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