Murray misses milestone and then joins debate on 'reckless' Zverev

Murray described Alexander Zverev's racquet-smashing spree that got the German kicked out of the ATP tournament in Acapulco late on Tuesday as "dangerous" and "reckless". Zverev went on a tirade against the umpire over a disputed call during his doubles opener alongside Marcelo Melo, verbally abusing the official and repeatedly hitting the umpire's chair with his racquet at the end of the match. The ATP tour announced that Zverev had been "withdrawn" from the tournament "due to unsportsmanlike conduct" and the world No.3 will not be able to defend his singles title in Acapulco.

"Look, it was not good. It was dangerous, reckless," former world No.1 Murray told reporters in Dubai following his 7-5, 6-2 defeat to Jannik Sinner. "I obviously understand lots of players, athletes across lots of sports, can get very frustrated.

Certainly me, myself, I've not always acted in the way I would want on the tennis court. I'm certainly not claiming to be an angel. I'm not perfect myself," added the Scot, who received a code violation for racquet abuse during his second round against Sinner on Wednesday.

"However, when you're ripping your tennis racquet right next to the umpire multiple times, yeah, you can't be doing that." Murray also added that Zverev's actions could have hurt others on court, including his opponents, the doubles pair Lloyd Glasspool of Britain and Harri Heliovaara of Finland. "I know obviously one of the British guys who was playing, as well, a bit dangerous. It's graphite flying off the racquet, as well.

Yeah, was not good," said Murray, who failed to reach a milestone in his match. In toasty conditions in Dubai, Sinner stopped Murray from joining the 700 match-wins club. The Italian No.4 seed advanced to the