Andy Murray piles into a row with CEO of Lacoste after he accused Stefanos Tsitsipas of ‘unfair behaviour’ following Greek star’s withdrawal from ATP Finals due to injury

Andy Murray has fallen out with Lacoste CEO Thierry Guibert after the sportswear chief accused Stefanos Tsitsipas of ‘dishonest conduct’ for withdrawing from the ATP Finals.

Tsitsipas withdrew after three games against Holger Rune in their Green Group match in Turin.

The Greek appeared to have a back injury and will be replaced in the tournament by Hubert Hurkacz.

Jannik Sinner inflicted a first defeat on Novak Djokovic since the Wimbledon final in July, and while congratulating Sinner on his three-set victory, Guibert took a dig at Tsitsipas.

‘Hats off to @janniksin for his win tonight. Despite Tsitsipas’ dishonest behavior, he showed everyone why he is a future champion and an authentic guy,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Andy Murray (left) hit back at Lacoste CEO Thierry Guibert (right), labeling his tweet a ‘bizarre message’ and pointing out that ‘getting injured is part of the sport’

Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew from his match against Holger Rune and the ATP Finals, which Lacoste CEO Guibert called ‘dishonest behavior’

Murray hit back, writing: ‘Bizarre post from a sports brand CEO. Getting injured is part of the sport and is not ‘unfair behavior’.

It is unclear what exactly Guibert thought was unfair about Tsitsipas, the 2019 ATP Finals champion, withdrawing from the competition with an injury.

He was 2-1 down against Rune when he decided to retire due to his back pain, while being jeered at Pala Alpitour.

Tsitsipas said: “It hurts me that I can’t finish this tournament.

‘I had some trouble with my movement. It is especially affected when I move. It is difficult to participate in the competition without having to move. This is tennis. This isn’t darts.

‘The pain was very great. I have been sore during competitions in the past and I have endured pain, but this was clearly too much to deal with

‘I had to make the difficult decision to do what I did. I felt it on the second play of the match. I actually felt it during the warm-up with my serve. While warming up during my serve, I felt very irritated and had a lot of pain in my back.

‘It’s a shame. I have had two editions here in Turin where I had to withdraw from the tournament. It has never happened to me before that I had to withdraw.

‘It certainly hurts me a lot because this is the tournament that means the most to me, including the Grand Slams. I can’t compete the way I want to compete.”

Jannik Sinner defeated Novak Djokovic in three sets to hand the Serbian a first defeat since the Wimbledon final in July