A former professional tennis player turned Wimbledon commentator has slammed a current star for ‘exploiting’ ATP rules.
Wimbledon is well underway with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner among the favourites to win the men’s singles title.
On Wednesday (July 2), Alcaraz, 22, beat 21-year-old university student Oliver Tarvet 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 to progress to the third round.
While Sinner, 23, faces Australian Aleksandar Vukic on Thursday afternoon and Djokovic, 38, is also in action against Britain’s Dan Evans earlier in the day.
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Aside from the spellbinding displays put on by the top-class players, the weather has been one of the main talking points of the 2025 edition of the tournament at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Courtside temperatures soared past 34 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, but one commentator picked up on another topic, accusing one player of exploiting rules.
World number 12 Frances Tiafoe annoyed former player and current commentator John Lloyd during his defeat to Cameron Norrie on Wednesday.
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At one point, Tiafoe, 27, made his way off the court after initially requesting a toilet break and began searching for fresh equipment before the umpire intervened.
Players are allowed two bathroom breaks in best-of-five matches at Grand Slams, with each permitted to last three minutes, with an extra two if a change of clothes is required.
Instead, there were eight minutes between the third and fourth sets, and Lloyd did not hold back while providing commentary on the BBC.
“It looks like he’s going to go off the court, but he’s taking a long time making his mind up,” Lloyd said.
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“He can’t go off now, he’s already taken three minutes here. You can’t wait that long before going off. If you have to go off, you go off straightaway.
“I think this is unfair. If you have a bathroom break, you go immediately. Get off!
“We’ve seen it before with players going off when they’re trailing, and they play completely different afterwards.
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“Maybe that’s what he needed, but I don’t agree with this at all, I think it’s wrong.”
He added: “This is ridiculous, I’m sorry, but this is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
“The momentum of the game is gone. We had the French Open final go on for over five hours, and there wasn’t one bathroom break.
“Let’s put it this way, he wouldn’t have taken that long if he was ahead.”
Luke Davies