Frances Tiafoe always says what she means. This is one of his great attractions, earning him a lot of attention and affection from fans. That candor would also likely be lost, costing him thousands of dollars.
The third-round match between 13th-seeded Tiafoe and Roman Safiulin went down to a third-set tiebreak at the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday. At 5–5, Tiafoe was still recovering from the previous point with a 25-second serve clock. The rules state that a player must “commence his service motion” before the clock expires. Tiafoe, clearly knowing the letter and spirit of the law, tossed the ball up. He didn’t move his racket hand at all, and he didn’t have much intention of hitting it. Umpire Jimmy Pinoargote apparently felt the same way, because he said, “Time violation, loss of service, Mr. Tiafoe.” (The first violation receives a verbal warning, and the second counts as a server fault. This was Tiafoe’s third of the match.)
Tiafoe insisted that since she tossed the ball up while standing on the baseline, it should have counted as the beginning of the service motion. “I’m not buying it. It’s the second serve now,” said Pinoargote, who did not bow despite Tiafoe’s continued protests.
Tiafoe lost the next two points and the match 5–7, 7–5, 7–6(5). After shaking hands with Safiulin, Tiafoe looked straight at the umpire and let him rip: “Fuck, man! Fuck! Really man, fuck, you fucked me hard!” He added: “Why? All these people are enjoying the entertainment. You ruined the match! Nice job. Fuck you!” And then: “For three hours, I have been struggling here, just for my livelihood.” And finally, once the audio came back: “You are going to be blacklisted for my matches. Never again.”
Tiafoe is going to be fined heavily. page 234 of atp rule book The Masters 1000 allows fines of up to $60,000 for incidents of verbal abuse at events. A possible precedent can be found at the 2022 Miami Open, when Nick Kyrgios Had to pay $35,000 Fine for audible obscenity, two separate instances of unsportsmanlike conduct and verbal abuse. He called the umpire “an absolute joker”.
Tiafoe’s anger was clearly evident and she uttered “fuck you” a lot. According to the ATP rulebook, instances of verbal abuse that are “severe and particularly damaging to the success of a tournament, or grossly egregious,” can be considered “major offenses – serious conduct”, punishable by a fine of up to $100,000. A fine of up to Rs. Suspension from play for at least 21 days.
A few hours later, Tiafoe atoned for her behavior with the expected Instagram Story. I’m sure Daura welcomes the apology, but it still won’t bring him any relief.
