“If we're waiting for everybody every time, we're going to miss so much time” – Matteo Berrettini on being distracted by the moving crowd during his R3 match

13th seed Matteo Berrettini has voiced his displeasure on the crowd’s constant movement between points during his US Open third-round match against Andy Murray on Friday.

The Italian was heard complaining while shaking hands with the chair umpire following his four-set win.

"We play for four hours and half of them we're waiting for the people to sit down," he was heard saying.

In his press conference after the win, Berrettini was asked about his post-match chat with the umpire.

Berrettini admitted that he expressed his unhappiness to the umpire about the crowd constantly leaving their seats or settling down in the middle of the match. He added it was a little distracting and caused delays.

“It was a distraction a little bit. But I think we're following the clock, right? Obviously the ref is calling the time. We always have a look at the clock, like, time violation and everything. Then you're ready to serve. You have to wait 20, 25 seconds more because people are, like, sitting down,” he said.

He also empathized with the spectators but stressed that the game should continue irrespective of the crowd’s whereabouts.

“I get it because it's a really big stadium, it's not easy. Obviously people, they paid tickets. They want to sit in their seats. But I think we should play without waiting. If we're waiting for anybody every time, for everybody for every time, like, we're going to miss so much time,” he opined.

“I think especially when we play best-of-five, the matches are really long enough. We don't have to have extra time. Unfortunately then we cannot do anything if someone is fainting like happened today, happened the other day. Also for people at home, everybody watching the match, it's not nice to waste so much time, I think, yeah,” Berrettini concluded.

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Matteo Berrettini through to R4 of US Open

Matteo Berrettini was pushed into the fourth set by former US Open champion Andy Murray, who won a third-set tie-break. Berrettini revived himself in the fourth set to seal the deal 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-3.

Speaking about the encounter, Berrettini told the press that he was happy with how the match went. He also appreciated Murray for playing a good tie-break in the third set.

“I think I played a really good match. In the third I had a lot of chances, and I couldn't get them. I think Andy played a really good tie-break. I found myself down a break in the fourth. But I kept thinking that I was doing the right things, that the chances I had in the previous sets, they will come again. That was my mindset. I think that was the right one because at the end it paid off. I'm really happy for that,” he observed.

Matteo Berrettini will now face Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the fourth round. The two have clashed once before at the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2021, where Davidovich Fokina scored a 7-5, 6-3 win.

Speaking about his next opponent, the Italian said that he isn't very familiar with the 23-year-old but remembers that he had lost their sole encounter.

“I don't know him that well. I lost against him last year in Monte-Carlo. Yeah, first match after my tear in Australia. Yeah, I think he's a really good player, really talented, physically really strong," he said.

“Obviously I didn't watch anything today because I was playing. But I think it's going to be a tough match. We actually practiced once before the tournament started, so I kind of like know a little bit expecting what he's going to do,” Matteo Berrettini added.

This marks Matteo Berrettini's fourth straight US Open Round-of-16 appearance. He was a semifinalist in 2019 and a quarterfinalist in 2021.