Stefanos Tsitsipas said a sad goodbye to New York City after his US Open exit, courtesy of Ben Shelton’s heroics, but not without a laugh and a story. The Greek former World No. 3 is known for many things, from his enormous one-handed backhands to his strong serves. However, it was his reputation for elongated bathroom breaks that followed him even as he rode a taxi in the States.

A taxi driver almost recognized him and asked if he was related to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“We’re very close,” the tennis player said instead of revealing his identity. But he wasn’t prepared for what came next.

“Good. Tell him to stop taking bathroom breaks like he’s searching for Narnia,” the driver replied, forcing Tsitsipas to hide under his hood and pretend that he was a “tourist from Oslo.”

And this entire short story was an unprompted revelation from Tsitsipas himself in a post on X on Sept. 7.

The driver’s statement was a clear dig at some of his career’s most interesting moments. At the 2021 US Open, Tsitsipas took an almost 8-minute-long bathroom break against Andy Murray before the fifth set of their opening-round matchup on Day 1 of the tournament. This was one set after he’d already taken an extended medical break to get treatment on his left foot.

His opponent, however, was not amused at all.

“When you’re playing a brutal match like that, you know, stopping for seven, eight minutes, you do cool down,” Murray said after the match. He was extremely critical of Tsitsipas, who ultimately ended up winning the match in five sets: 2-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

This wasn’t an isolated incident either. At the same tournament, he took a similar bathroom break against Adrian Mannarino and, upon returning to the court, was booed by the crowd. However, he won that match as well, recording his 50th career win and advancing to the third round.

Alexander Zverev had publicly criticized Tsitsipas for taking extensive bathroom breaks during that period.

“It’s not normal,” said Zverev. “It’s happening every match. It happened to me in the French Open, to Novak at the finals [of] the French Open. You know, I think in Hamburg against [Filip] Krajinovic he was complaining, against me in Cincinnati was ridiculous, and now here again. I think players are catching up on that.”

Later that year, the ATP significantly altered bathroom rules for players. Now, players can take bathroom breaks of up to three minutes, plus two extra minutes if they’re also changing their clothes.

Furthermore, tennis players can only take breaks at set breaks, not whenever they want. That part of Tsitsipas’ career might have been controversial, but it’s not a reflection of what the great success he has achieved.

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ Impressive US Open Journey Before Ben Shelton’s Masterclass

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ campaign at the US Open was filled with major comebacks. In his first-round match against Cincinnati Masters winner Arthur Fils, the Greek player fell behind after Fils won the opening set. In the second, Fils was set to serve at 5-2 when Tsitsipas finally switched gears. He pushed forward and won 7-6 (3), before a clean blowout, winning the next two sets 6-1 and 6-4.

In his second-round match too, he lost the first set against Lloyd Harris, only to win the match with a 6-7(1), 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-4 scoreline. A similar theme followed in his third-round match against Jiri Lehecka. The Czech No. 18 seed had already won the first set when Tsitsipas responded with a 6–1, 7–6(3), 6–1 comeback.

The third set in the match was the pivotal moment. Just like his first-round match, Tsitsipas won a tie-break and then turned it into a full-fledged comeback against Lehecka and entered the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time since 2024.

However, he could not fully sustain his momentum in his round 4 match against Ben Shelton, who won in straight sets. Interestingly, Tsitsipas took a medical break during this matchup too for an unspecified reason. But after the loss, he acknowledged Shelton’s impressive game.

“Well, he has a lot of, a lot of spins and slices, and it’s difficult to predict, and that was something that was very difficult to deal with today,” he later admitted in the post-match press conference. “You know, it can kind of come from anywhere with any kind of spin, and he’s a very good server. He knows how to use his left hand, very smart. So it was difficult having to deal with most of his serves (&) playing him.”

“He deserves this victory” was Stefanos Tsitsipas’ final verdict on Shelton’s win, which advanced him to the quarterfinal for a matchup against Carlos Alcaraz.