A fuming Andy Murray accused Fabio Fognini of shouting during a critical point as the Briton went down fighting in three bitter sets at the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday. The two players confronted one another in a lengthy exchange by the net near the end of a bad-tempered match that stretched past three hours. The 12th-ranked Fognini plays the unseeded American Taylor Fritz or Russian seventh seed Karen Khachanov in the last 16 after a contentious 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 7-6 (7/2) victory.
But Murray, 32, on the comeback from career-saving hip surgery in January, said: "Someone made a noise, I didn't know who made the noise, I looked in the direction of where the noise came from. "He then told me, 'Stop looking at me, what are you looking at me for?'
"I was like, 'I was just about to hit a shot and someone made a noise'. He then told me to stop looking at him," Murray added.
"The sound came from him, which you're not allowed to do, it's against the rules, it's hindrance, you shouldn't do it."
The three-time Grand Slam winner was frustrated the chair umpire failed to intervene as the match turned increasingly sour.
Federer gets revenge
Ruthless Roger Federer claimed victory in his opener with a straight-sets win over Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
The 38-year-old Swiss won 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) and plays Belgium's 13th seed David Goffin or Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in the last 16. The third-ranked Federer is looking to end the season on a high with a fourth title of the year - although he failed to win a 21st Grand Slam this season.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019
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