• French Open

Murray calls for players to decide when to stop

ESPN staff
May 31, 2010
Andy Murray was forced off due to rain © Getty Images
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Andy Murray has called for players to be given the power to decide when matches should be suspended due to bad light, following his fourth-round exit at the French Open to Tomas Berdych.

The world No. 4's match finished late on Sunday evening, after the players had been off-court for 36 minutes midway through the clash. Murray cut an irritable figure on court after the resumption, clearly unhappy that he was being forced to play on the sodden surface while the light was fading.

"It shouldn't necessarily be down the supervisor to make the call because he's not the one playing," Murray said. "Not every single person's eyesight is as good as another's. If one guy doesn't want to play or is finding it hard to see then we should stop. You don't normally gain a whole lot by playing an extra 10 minutes or so."

After the match, Murray was keen not to attribute his defeat to the conditions - but he did concede that he thought the rain delay was to his detriment against Berdych, who now goes on to face Mikhail Youzhny in the last eight.

"I got myself back into it and struggled when we came back out from the rain delay. But he played a good match. He hit a big ball. It was very heavy conditions and he was striking the ball really well."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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