ANGRY MURRAY
Scot blows his top at Fognini
ANDY MURRAY told Fabio Fognini to “shut up” as the Scot lost out in a close second-round battle to exit the Shanghai Masters.
Murray, continuing his comeback from hip surgery, clashed with the Italian for making a noise as he was about to put away a volley.
And Murray said: “He said I should have a sense of humour about that.”
ANDY MURRAY blew his top at Fabio Fognini as he lost a fierce battle with the world No.12 at the Shanghai Masters.
Murray told Fognini to “shut up” as the pair argued over the Italian shouting when the Scot put away a volley to lead 6-5 in the deciding set.
Fognini went on to win the secondround clash 7-6 2-6 7-6.
And while Murray was pleased at the manner in which his hip stood up to a three-hour battle, he was still raging at his rival after the match.
Murray said: “I had a volley at the top of the net. Someone made a noise.
“I looked in the direction of where the noise came from.
“He 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 telling me to stop looking at him which, normally when someone shouts in the middle of a point, this is pretty rare when that happens.
“And then he told me to stop complaining. ‘When you have a volley on top of the net, you’re not going to miss it,’ he said. I was like, ‘well I know I’m not going to miss it but I wanted to know where the sound came from...’
“And it came from him. It’s against the rules, it’s hindrance. You shouldn’t do it. But he said I should have a sense of humour about that.
“I’d say neither of us, in that moment, were in a laughing, joking kind of mood and that was the issue I had.”
Fognini has a reputation for winding up opponents and as the players
clashed again at a change-over, Murray told the Italian to “shut up”.
The performance itself provided plenty of talking points as Murray raised his level once more to push Fognini all the way before twice failing to serve it out.
The Italian landed the first blow with a break to lead 2-1 only for Murray to reel off three games in a row, securing the second break with a backhand winner.
But Fognini got straight back on serve and after both men survived pressure on their own serves, the Italian edged the tie-break, a double fault proving costly for Murray.
The Scot responded well, breaking Fognini for 3-2 in the second set and then making it five games in a row after his opponent had a mental lapse.
But Fognini was focused for the decider and it was nip and tuck all the way to the dramatic final stages.
Cameron Norrie was also beaten in the second round, losing 6-3 6-1 to US Open finalist Daniil Medvedev.
Meanwhile, Murray will be welcomed back to the Australian Open in January a year after the tournament bade him an emotional farewell.
Tournament director Craig Tiley said: “For sure Andy will be here. I was on the phone to his agent this morning. He is ready to return.
“Remember he said goodbye a year ago. It’s great in that period he had surgery and has rebounded really well.”