MELBOURNE: Andy Murray has defended his fiancee after she was caught on camera during his tense Australian Open semi-final win apparently swearing at the Tomas Berdych camp courtside.
Tension between Murray and Berdych spilled over off court with the Scot's wife-to-be Kim Sears caught up with the emotion of Thursday's match.
Murray, who beat the Czech seventh seed 6-7 (6/8), 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 to reach his fourth Australian Open final, attributed the atmosphere to the pre-match focus on his former coach, Dani Vallverdu, who is now working with Berdych.
Asked at his post-match media conference if he was aware of Sears being caught on camera, but with no audio, using some "Anglo-Saxon adjectives" directed at the Berdych camp, Murray said he was.
"I was told about that. When there's a lot of tension surrounding something, which you (media) created, then it's completely normal," Murray said.
"The whole first set everyone was tight. My physical trainer, physio, I'm sure for Dani (Vallverdu) it was uncomfortable.
"Even Tomas, who very rarely says anything on the court, there was tension there for him, as well. In the heat of the moment you can say stuff that you regret. And, yeah, that's it."
There was plenty of friction between Murray and Berdych and a few glares at each other at changeovers during the opening set sparked by Berdych's decision to hire former Murray team member Vallverdu as his coach.
Murray blamed the media for stirring it up.
"You (media) wanted there to be tension. Because of everything that's gone on it's kind of a natural thing to happen. So I kind of expected and had planned for that to be the case as well," he said.
"A lot was made of Dani working with him. Me and Dani have been friends since we were 15 and I felt that was a little bit unfair and unnecessary. There is more to life than sport."
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