Thanasi Kokkinakis: Tennis star in heated exchange with umpire over a toilet break – Daily Hunt News
CNN
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When nature calls, sometimes you just have to answer.
During his third-round match at the French Open, Australian tennis player Thanasi Kokkinakis was left dumbfounded after seemingly being refused a toilet break by the umpire.
After losing the second set, Kokkinakis – who had taken a toilet break after the first set – approached chair umpire Katarzyna Radwan-Cho.
“All I’m asking is to try and p*ss,” he told her. “Now you’re telling me I’ve got 50 seconds. Can you just be realistic and give me something decent for once.
“F**king sh*t, we get two for a match,” he added, referencing the number of toilet breaks permitted in five setters. “Do you want me to p*ss on the court?
“Is that what you want?”
Kokkinakis eventually lost in four sets to Russia’s Karen Khachanov, who overturned a 4-1 deficit in the fourth-set tiebreak to close out the match and advance to the fourth round.
British former player Laura Robson, now working as a pundit for Eurosport, explained why Kokkinakis might have had trouble making it to the bathroom and back on time.
“You have to sprint, but the problem is on [court] Simonne-Mathieu the bathrooms just aren’t quite as close as they are on Chatrier and Lenglen.
“You can see his frustration because he’s trying to get there as fast as possible, but it’s just physically not going to happen … but at least it didn’t happen on court.”