It turns out that it isn’t just the players who let the tension of the Australian Open get to them. Kim Sears, the girlfriend of four-time finalist Andy Murray, was caught on camera mouthing off — apparently about his semifinal opponent, Czech player Tomas Berdych.
The outburst, which came during Murray’s ill-tempered four-set (6-7 (6) 6-0 6-3 7-5) win against Berdych, has been making the rounds. While exactly what Sears said is up for debate, the general consensus is that it was more than a little blue.
The match was a tense one from the beginning, with much of the pre-game narrative focusing on Murray’s ex-coach, Dani Vallverdu, who is now in Berdych’s corner.
The Scot, who is not above unleashing a torrent of curse words on court, downplayed his girlfriend’s outburst after the victory.
“In the heat of the moment you can say stuff that you regret,” he said.
“When there’s a lot of tension surrounding something, which you created, it’s completely normal that the whole first set everyone was tight,” he told media following the match.
“Even Tomas, who very rarely says anything on the court… there was tension there for him as well.”
He added that the tension came at the beginning of the match, and settled down as it progressed.
While some Twitter commentators poured opprobrium on the tennis star’s girlfriend, much of the social media reaction downplayed press coverage of Sears’ outburst.
Murray’s opponent dismissed talk of bad blood between him and the Scot, saying he was simply trying to pump himself up after winning the first set.
“I say to myself, ‘Well done, Tomas.’ That’s it,” Berdych told reporters. “I think I’m allowed to do that when I win a set.”
Murray will meet the victor of Friday’s semifinal, either Novak Djokovic or Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, in the final on Sunday. It will be the fourth time he has made the final in Melbourne, where he is yet to be crowned champion.