Love is all as mother jibe enrages Murray

HE HAD been kicking his heels for hours on a cold, dank Rome evening, waiting to play before emptying stands. As if the conditions of his latest match were not enough to stoke the fires of Andy Murray, the comments of his opponent made certain of it.

The British No1 tennis player reacted angrily after becoming embroiled in an on-court row, during which the Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro, appeared to insult his mother.

On what would otherwise have been an unremarkable first-round match of the Rome Masters tournament on Monday evening, the young Scot saw red when, during the second set, comments were made about Judy Murray, who was sitting a few metres behind the baseline, cheering on her son. The unsavoury incident, Murray later admitted, helped him come from behind to win the match.

The row – which evoked memories of Zinedine Zidane's far-worse clash with Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final between France and Italy – flared after Del Potro appeared to aim a full-power backhand shot straight at the 20-year-old's head.

Whether it was a mistake or otherwise, Murray rebuked his opponent for not apologising as they sat down on their changeover seats. Del Potro then replied: "You are always the same, hey? You never change," before adding, "And your mother, she's the same always."

Noticing both players' agitation, the umpire, Fergus Murphy, stepped in, but Murray was adamant Del Potro, 19, had crossed the line. "Do you want to speak about my mum again?" he demanded.

The umpire again asked for calm, but Murray told him his remarks were "unacceptable". The umpire told him: "That's what I'm just about to say. Let me handle it. It's only going to get worse if you get involved."

The flashpoint was not the only example of ill-feeling in the match. During the opening set, which he lost, Murray was warned by Mr Murphy, who claimed he had sworn. Murray denied the charge. Ultimately, Murray won the second set, and soon got through to the next round after Del Potro, the world No71, retired early in the final set after breaking down in tears with severe back pain.

Yesterday, Murray stepped in to defend his mother. Writing in his blog, he said the match became infused with a "bit of emotion" following the backhand incident, and admitted to shouting "a little bit more than usual".

About the insult, he said: "At the change of ends, he said something that's … I'm not going to go into too much detail, but for me it was completely unacceptable. You know, I told him he better watch his mouth.

"Someone saying something about your mother, who is one of the nicest ladies you're ever going to meet? I don't think that's really that cool."

Murray suggested the fall-out in Rome was not their first. Though they have in the past played doubles, and occasionally spoken over the internet, Murray said: "I think we had a problem once, maybe. Like he said something to me after a match at the French Open juniors."

In any case, the comment by Del Potro was enough to get Murray's back up, and his game flowing. "It was maybe a good thing for me," he explained. "I wanted to win so much more after that … I didn't feel like I was going to lose the match after that point.

"I know that, regardless of how people think I behave on court, I've only had one problem in my 160 matches on the tour.

"I don't scream 'Come on' into my opponents' faces and I don't say anything to them when I'm walking by them."

TRANSCRIPT

ANDY MURRAY (sitting down on his changeover chair]: You try and hit a ball at me and you think it's fun.

JUAN MARTÍN DEL POTRO: You are always the same, hey? You never change.

AM: You, yeah ...

FERGUS MURPHY (umpire, looking down towards AM]: Okay boys, I'll handle it now.

DP: And your mother, she's the same always.

FM: Just save it 'till later.

AM: Do you want to speak about my mum again?

FM: Andy...

AM (to DP]: Huh?

FM: Andy, Andy ...

AM: No, no, no... that's unacceptable.

FM: Just let me do my job.

AM: No, that's unacceptable.

FM: That's what I'm just about to say, let me handle it. It's only going to get worse if you get involved, trust me. Just let me do my job.

AM: The guy's talking about my mum, what the hell is he doing? He tries to hit me with the ball in the middle of the court and thinks that that's normal for players to do that.

FM: Just let me handle that. Just let me do that. Juan, that's enough. If you have a problem, talk to me.

Murray gets up and walks past the Argentinian without comment

DP (getting up from his chair]: (not audible]

FM: Talk to me, talk to me. Don't talk to him.