Andy Murray’s Brother Questions ‘How Is That Allowed?’ After Toilet Break Controversy During Carlos Alcaraz’s Shock Shanghai Exit

Carlos Alcaraz‘s Shanghai Masters campaign ended disappointingly. Up against Zizou Bergs in the third round, Alcaraz struggled throughout the match, often complaining about the inconsistent ball bounce, a clip of which has also gone viral.

Bergs, with his 7-5, 7-6(4) upset of the World No.3, registered the biggest win of his career, as well as clinched his third top-10 win. But he also sparked controversy due to what he did during the match.

Bergs took a near 10-minute bathroom break after winning the first set. Reacting to the delay, former doubles World No.1 Jamie Murray, also the older brother of Andy Murray, took to X and asked the chair umpire why a long toilet break was allowed.

Over 8mins for a toilet break. Still not started back. Prob takes 20 secs to walk from centre court to the changing rooms in Shanghai. How is that acceptable/allowed?

He got a response from Brad Gilbert, the former coach of Andre Agassi, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, and Coco Gauff. Gilbert said such incidents happen often and that players should be punished if they don’t follow the rule.

Unfortunately, happens all too often. There needs to be way clearer rules on comfort breaks. Should only be allowed, in my humble opinion, on set breaks; three minutes or five minutes with gear change, then if not ready, lose a point [for] every 30 seconds.

Check out his post here:

@jamie_murray unfortunately happens all to often, there needs to be way clearer rules on comfort breaks, should only be allowed in my humble opinion on set breaks 3 mins or 5 mins with gear ⚙️ change, then if not ready lose a point every 30 seconds

— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) October 12, 2026

The win helped Bergs improve his head-to-head record over the seven-time Grand Slam champion to 1-1. Before this event, they met in the round of 16 of the Japan Open.

Bergs will next be locking horns with 15th seed Tommy Paul, who ended defending champion Valentin Vacherot‘s campaign in the previous round. The 27-year-old, chasing his second title of the year after winning the 2026 Eastbourne Open, has reached only one quarterfinal in Masters 1000 events.

He reached the stage in last year’s Shanghai Masters, losing the match to four-time champion Novak Djokovic.

Carlos Alcaraz reacts to Qinwen Zheng’s win at the China Open

The Wuhan Open, the season’s final WTA 1000 event, is underway at the Optics Valley International Tennis Center. Qinwen Zheng was scheduled to play the tournament and could have set up a clash with three-time champion Aryna Sabalenka had she reached the second round.

But she withdrew from the event. After some much-needed rest, Zheng will be competing at the Hong Kong Open, which kicks off on October 31.

On Sunday this week, Zheng finally ended her title drought by defeating Mirra Andreeva at the China Open, becoming the first Chinese player to win this title. When Carlos Alcaraz was asked at the press conference about Zheng’s win following his defeat in Shanghai, he said:

Well, obviously she’s a great player, and she’s coached by a Spanish coach, Pere [Riba], that we have a really good relationship with, so I’m really, really happy about the team, about her. She missed a lot of important tournaments. She fell down into the rankings. She had to play qualifying tournaments. So the way she’s coming back, it’s unbelievable. I’m really, really happy about her. I saw that she is the first Chinese tennis player who won the chinese masters there in Beijing.

It was Zheng’s second Major Title of her career, after her gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But after that victory, Zheng had struggled a lot due to physical setbacks and underwent surgery on her right elbow last year.

It was at this US Open that the 24-year-old showed signs of a return as she upset six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek in the fourth round, before losing to eventual champion Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals.

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