US Open: Patrick Mouratoglou - Novak Djokovic as inspiration for toilet breaks
On the sidelines of the US Open, Patrick Mourtagolou spoke about the background to the hotly debated toilet breaks by Stefanos Tsitsipas.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Sep 07, 2021, 07:38 pm

The first round duel between Andy Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas will be remembered for two reasons: On the one hand, because of the sensational fight between the youngster and the veteran on Center Court. On the other hand, however, also from an inglorious point of view, namely due to the ongoing discussions about a toilet break by Stefanos Tsitsipas, which Andy Murray visibly brought to white heat in the fifth movement.
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Now, Patrick Mouratoglou, a man who knows Stefanos Tsitsipas better than hardly anyone else on the ATP tour at Tennis Majors, spoke about the background to these breaks. "When a player takes a toilet break, he usually doesn't take it because he has to go to the toilet, but because it is a moment in which he can reorient himself and concentrate. Most of the time he has lost the sentence. He needs to calm down to be alone and to find a solution and that's the only thing Stefanos does, " explained the star coach.
Tsitsipas on self-discovery trips
However, these toilet breaks are by no means there to disrupt the opponent. Rather, personal stabilization is the reason for the interruptions, as Mouratoglou emphasized: "It is even annoying that a player only does this to disturb the rhythm of his opponent. When he did that against Murray (took a break) he just won a set. So why should he try to break the rhythm? "
Tsitsipas found inspiration for this approach in world number one Novak Djokovic, who seems to have made a lasting impression on the Greeks with this tactic in the final of the French Open. "When he lost the final to Roland Garros, he was two sets ahead. Djokovic took a toilet break, came back and then it was another match. He learned from that," said Mouratoglou.
Inspiration Novak Djokovic?
And even the Serbian does not use this passage in the regulation to get his opponent out of rhythm, for Djokovic too it is a means to find his game. "He learned that Djokovic hadn't broken his rhythm. He learned that Djokovic took time for himself in the locker room and was able to start over and come back differently."
Despite the defensive words for Tsitsipas, Mouratoglou emphasizes that he too is critical of the length of the toilet breaks: "I have always said that I think tennis is too long. I will not say that a toilet break of six minutes is not too long. I think it should be three minutes, maybe five minutes maximum. I've been complaining about those toilet breaks for a long time. " A solution could be a joint regulation of ATP, WTA and ITF.