An irritated Andy Murray accused Fabio Fognini of “hindrance” in their fiery second-round clash at the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday.
Three-time Shanghai champion Murray was annoyed by a loud noise, which he claims was made by Fognini, when he had a volley at the net for a 15-30 lead at 5-5 in the third set.
The Briton went on to break Fognini for a second chance to serve out the match, but at the changeover the pair were involved in a heated discussion.
When Murray complained about the noise to chair umpire Fergus Murphy and Fognini attempted to interject, the three-time major champion told his opponent to “shut up”.
Murray was unable to close out the victory and Fognini, who had earlier been handed a code violation for hitting a ball into the stand and throwing his racket at a court-side chair, had the last laugh by sealing a 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 7-6 (7-2) triumph.
Asked about the incident, Murray said: “I had a volley on top of the net. Someone made a noise, I didn’t know who made the noise.
“I looked in the direction of where the noise came from. He [Fognini] then told me, ‘Stop looking at me, what are you looking at me for?’ and I was like, ‘I was just about to hit a shot and someone made a noise.’
“He was then telling me to stop looking at him. Normally when someone shouts during the middle of a point, which is pretty rare something like that happens, he told me to stop complaining, to have a sense of humour, that when you have a volley on top of the net you’re not going to miss it.
“Well I know I’m not going to miss it but I wanted to know where the sound came from. It came from him, which you’re not allowed to do, it’s against the rules, it’s hindrance, you shouldn’t do it.
“He said I should have a sense of humour about it, but I would say in the moment neither of us were in a joking, laughing kind of mood. That was the issue.”
