Murray tells Fognini to ‘shut up’ in defeat

Andy Murray’s 3hr 10min battle with Fabio Fognini became so heated yesterday that it spilt over into verbal confrontation. Murray warned Fognini to “shut up” and complained repeatedly to umpire Fergus Murphy before eventually succumbing to a 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 defeat.

Murray thus left the Shanghai Open in a state of high dudgeon. Not only had he wasted two opportunities to serve out the match, but he also felt Fognini had shown him disrespect on the court. The initial Angry exit: Andy Murray is out of the Shanghai Open after heated match with Fabio Fognini flashpoint came at 5-5 in the third set, when Murray darted forward to the net and steered a straightforward volley into the open court for a winner. Fognini shouted as Murray struck the ball, but Murray later suggested the point should have been handed to him via the hindrance rule.

“I looked in the direction of where the noise came from,” Murray said afterwards. “He then told me, ‘Stop looking at me. What are you looking at me for?’ I was, like, ‘Well, I was just about to hit a shot and someone made a noise.’

“He told me to stop complaining, to have a sense of humour, that ‘when you have a volley on top of the net, you know you’re not going to miss it.’ I was like, ‘I know I’m not going to miss it, but I wanted to know where the noise came from.’ It came from him, which you’re not allowed to do. It’s against the rules. It’s hindrance”

Murray is expected to play the European Open in Antwerp next week. Meanwhile, Dan Evans is now British No 1 after Cameron Norrie’s 6-3, 6-1 defeat by Daniil Medvedev in Shanghai yesterday.