The ATP has introduced new guidelines on toilet breaks during men's matches as players complained of opponents misusing the timeout. They will be allowed to take only one break per match from the new season, which will be a maximum of three minutes.
The players can take this break only at the end of a set, while the ATP has also allowed one two-minute break for change of clothing.
The most notable incident in recent times of a player being accused of taking inordinately long toilet breaks came during the US Open, when Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas was criticised by Britain's Andy Murray after he took several long breaks during their first-round clash.
Over the years, tennis players have often taken various breaks to clear their mind, particularly when the match is not going in their favour.
After losing the match to Tsitsipas in August, Murray said he “lost respect” for him and accused him of “cheating” by going off the court for eight minutes in the fourth set. Tsitsipas also took a medical time out and another toilet break in the two prior sets.
Murray even took a jibe at him on Twitter the next day.
Fact of the day. It takes Stefanos Tsitipas twice as long to go the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bazos to fly into space. Interesting. 🚽 🚀
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) August 31, 2021
The Greek world number three insisted that he had not broken any rules, though he employed the same tactic in the next round, which drew jeers and boos from the crowd.
ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev has also previously accused Tsitsipas of disrupting the flow of a game with his impromptu breaks, saying that he does “every match”.
After the Cincinnati Masters semifinal between Zverev and Tsitsipas, the German said that his opponent used a toilet break to communicate with his father, which is not allowed on the ATP Tour.
“He's gone for 10-plus minutes. His dad [in the crowd] is texting on the phone. He comes out, and all of a sudden his tactic completely changed. It's not just me, but everybody saw it. The whole game plan changes,” said Zverev.
Though Tsitsipas denied the accusation, the new rule will prevent such situations from arising again. The rule states that players who spend too long in the bathroom could face time violations.
The ATP is also reportedly keen on tweaking the medical timeout allowance, which could allow players to take only one three-minute timeout per match, else they would have to forfeit the game if they cannot continue playing without the extra timeout.
