Tennis players may use toilet breaks to gain an advantage by having time to reset or disrupting their opponent's rhythm, a study reveals. Sports fans and commentators have long speculated on whether mid-match bathroom breaks amount to gamesmanship.

Researchers analysed data from timeouts taken by the world's top 250 players between 2013 and 2023. Of the 1,928 breaks in play in the study period, there were 366 bathroom timeouts. The study found that 71% of toilet breaks were taken when a player had lost the previous set. Typically, a third of players recover the next set after losing the previous one - but this rose to 47% if they took a bathroom break.

Study leader and tennis fan Dr Liam Blything, from the University of Manchester, said: "There has been much argument in the media over recent years about the formalisation of gamesmanship in tennis, with the taking of bathroom breaks.

"This study for the first time used real data to check the validity of those concerns. There is now clear evidence a well-timed bathroom break in play confers an advantage to the player taking the break by regathering him or herself and disrupting the flow of the opponent."

Bathroom breaks have been partially blamed for some high profile match outcomes. At the 2021 US Open 1st round, Andy Murray described opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas's eight-minute toilet break as "nonsense".

Tsitsipas, who did not break any rules, also left court for a toilet break at the end of the second set and had a medical time-out for treatment on a foot injury before the fourth set.

Andy, who went on to lose 3-2, said: "It's just disappointing because I feel it influenced the outcome of the match."

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) introduced a rule for the 2022 season to restrict timeouts to a maximum of three minutes, alongside limitations on when and how often they can be deployed.

Dr Blything, whose findings were published in the International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, added: "These pioneering findings uniquely inform players and tennis governing bodies about the influence of timeouts and, more broadly, elucidate the role that stoppages can play in sport for altering momentum.

"It would be useful to understand if this effect is relevant in other sports. Snooker players, for example, seem to take a lot of bathroom breaks."