U.S. tennis star Frances Tiafoe berated a chair umpire with a profane outburst on Tuesday after losing his third-round match at the Shanghai Masters.
Tiafoe, seeded 13th, lost a tightly contested match to unseeded Roman Safiullin (Russia), 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). He was penalized for a time violation late in the third-set tiebreak. When the match was done, Tiafoe greeted Safiullin at the net with a handshake. He then laid into chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote.
The video below contains NSFW language.
“F** you, man,” Tiafoe screamed. “F** you. Seriously, man. F*** you. You f***d me in the f***ing match.”
There was no handshake exchange between Tiafoe and Pinoargote. Tiafoe walked away from the net after his initial outburst. But he wasn’t done.
“Three f***ing hours, and you’re gonna do that,” Tiafoe continued. “Why? … You f***ed the match up. Great f***ing job. F*** you. Three f***ing hours I’m out here battling, only for my livelihood.”
Pinoargote didn’t respond. He stepped down from the chair and walked away. Tiafoe continued to berate Pinoargote as Pinoargote walked away.
What set Tiafoe off?
A pair of time violations including one during the third-set tiebreak triggered Tiafoe’s outburt. Pinoargote initially called Tiafoe for a time violation in the second set.
this was the initial time violation warning Frances received towards the end of set 2 which he also disagreed with. the ump calls the warning as soon as the clock hits 0 although Tiafoe is about to toss the ball.
thoughts? pic.twitter.com/YOtLygDjKl
— Christian’s Court (@christianscourt) October 8, 2024
With the third-set tiebreak at 5-5, Pinoargote called Tiafoe for another after he tossed the ball in the air but didn’t serve. The violation cost Tiafoe his first serve. Tiafoe protested.
Moment which lead to Tiafoe lashing out on the umpire.
Umpire gave him time violation warning and took his first serve away.
He said ‘I’m not buying it, this is now second serve’
Tiafoe said ‘ I tossed the ball, this is the rule’
— edgeAI (@edgeAIapp) October 8, 2024
“I tossed the ball. I tossed the ball,” Tiafoe protested. … “I tossed the ball, I’m ready to serve.”
“I’m not buying this, it’s the second serve now,” Pinoargote responded. “Second serve.”
“Dude, that’s the rule,” Tiafoe responded. “The ball goes up, how am I not ready to serve?”
Pinoargote then announced into the microphone that it was second serve.
Tiafoe then returned to the baseline to serve. He lost the point after an extended rally, then lost another to lose the tiebreak and the match. In the end, it was a critical penalty at a pivotal point of a hard-fought match.
After cooling down, Tiafoe issued an apology on Instagram.
“I really apologize for the way I acted tonight,” Tiafoe wrote. “That is not who I am and not how I ever want to treat people. I let my frustration in the heat of the moment get the best of me and I’m extremely disappointed with how I handled the situation. That’s not acceptable behavior, and I want to apologize to the umpire, the tournament and the fans.
“I’ll be better for y’all.”
Tiafoe is in the midst of one of the best years of his career. He’s ranked 17th in the world and is fresh off a trip to the US Open semifinals, tied for his deepest run ever in a Grand Slam event.
