The high temperatures and humidity in New York this week led tournament organisers to introduce a new rule permitting a 10-minute break between the third and fourth sets during menâs matches.
Players are not allowed to talk to their coaches, which is exactly what Murray said he saw Verdasco doing after finishing a cold shower.
The Scot was furious that it was he who alerted officials to the incident, telling umpire Nico Helwerth when he returned to the court: âI had to tell them because no-one knows the f***ing rules.â
Discussing the matter after Verdascoâs 7-5 2-6 6-4 6-4 victory, Murray said: âI went and told the supervisor. I said, âWhat are you guys doing? I mean, thereâs clear rules here and youâre allowing this to take place. I donât get it.â
âThen he ran through, âOh, youâre not allowed to speak.â They obviously werenât in there for long, but youâve got to do better than that. This is one of the biggest events in the world.â
Verdasco flatly denied any such rule breach had taken place, claiming that while his coach was in the locker room, he spoke only to another player, Marcos Baghdatis, and the Cypriotâs coach.
Verdasco said: âObviously if Andy says that, I donât want to say that he lies, but I didnât talk one word with my coach or any one member of my team. I know exactly the rule and I donât want to be the one breaking it.â
With tournament organisers apparently unable to shed any light on what happened, it was a case of one manâs word against the other â and Murray was determined to make sure it was he who had the last one.
In a post on Instagram, Murray wrote: âIâm off to get a health check as apparently Iâve started imagining things,â followed by the hashtag #liarliarpantsonfire.
Nick Kyrgios, who has history with Verdasco, also weighed in on the debate, saying of the coaching accusations on Twitter: âLetâs be real, very believable because it is Verdasco lol.â