Carlos Alcaraz’s conqueror called out by Murray during shock loss – ‘How is that allowed?’
Jamie Murray has questioned why Zizou Bergs was allowed to leave the court for more than eight minutes during his Shanghai Masters upset win over Carlos Alcaraz. A quarter-finalist in Shanghai last year, the Belgian won a close first set 7-5 over the second seed, while Alcaraz struggled with the conditions and vented his frustrations towards his coaching box. After taking the lead, Bergs left the court for a bathroom break, while Alcaraz was left waiting at the baseline.
Players are limited to three minutes for a regular toilet break, and five minutes for a change-of-attire break. However, this clock only starts once they have entered the bathroom and does not include the time it takes for the player to walk there.
World No. 39 Bergs informed the umpire that he would be taking the full five minutes to change his kit. But he ended up spending almost double the amount of time off the court. Alcaraz, meanwhile, used the opportunity to speak to his team, who were sitting behind the baseline.
The Spaniard had been struggling with the speed of the ball and the court during the first set, and looked very animated when he ranted in their direction after going 5-6 down. And he continued that conversation in a calmer fashion while waiting for Bergs.
As the delay continued, Alcaraz paced around, jumping on the spot to stay warm and hitting some serves. The umpire got on his walkie-talkie to inform Bergs that he had one minute to return to the court. By this point, he’d already been gone for just over six minutes.
Commentators agreed that the lengthy break was unusual. “This is a long break, isn’t it? Doesn’t take that long to have a change of clothes as well, because that’s what he initially asked for,” Greg Rusedski said on the world feed.
“Of course the lockers here are pretty close to where they are leaving the court, so that shouldn’t be a problem,” Nick Lester replied, just as Bergs finally made his way back down the tunnel. “There’s no real rush there, is there?” Rusedski laughed.
The delay didn’t seem to disrupt either player’s momentum, and they were neck and neck in the second set until, once again, Alcaraz was serving at 5-5. For the second time in the match, he was broken at that stage by Bergs, this time allowing the Belgian to serve for victory.
This time, the second seed was able to get the break back. Alcaraz touched his ear and waved his arms in the air, getting the crowd going as he forced a tiebreak to stay alive. But the Spaniard made a couple of costly errors in the breaker, and Bergs claimed a 7-5 7-6(4) victory, causing a huge upset.
