Andy Murray called on umpires to get tough on players taking too long between points on Thursday after being made to work hard for victory against a determined Fernando Verdasco at the ATP World Tour Finals.
The 22-year-old Briton seemed in a sullen mood at London's O2 Arena as he berated himself, his racket, the surface and even his chair during the course of a 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 victory over the Spaniard.
At times during the three-hour contest in front of a slightly muted crowd evenly split in support of both players, Murray seemed a little agitated at having to wait for Verdasco after changeovers.
"For me, if it's 25 seconds that you get between the points, I think some of the tournaments it's 20 seconds, and if you're over a couple of times, there has to be a warning," Murray said.
"There's no excuse for that. And when the umpire calls time, you should be out of your chair. That's it. That's the reason why they have those time limits.
"If the umpire calls time and your opponent is allowed to sit there for an extra 15 seconds, then I just don't think you should be allowed to do that."
Murray had looked comfortable for almost two thirds of the match before Verdasco dragged him into a second set tiebreak and levelled the contest.
"You want to try and see a game played at a pretty fast pace," continued the Scot. "The match today was like three hours long.
"You know, if that was five sets, it could have been a lot longer. It's tough for people to watch a match for that long, especially if guys are taking long in between the points."
