1 week Ago By Layton Ryan-Parson
Frances Tiafoe has been fined $120,000 (£95,000) for an X-rated tirade towards an umpire. The American lost to Roman Safiullin in the round of 32 at last month’s Shanghai Masters 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). Tiafoe and his opponent met to shake hands at the net in a usual sporting manner but the 26-year-old directed his frustrations towards umpire Jimmy Pinoargote .
"F*** you, man," Tiafoe said. "F*** you. Seriously, man.
F*** you. You f***** in the f****** match." Tiafoe added: “You f***ed the match up.
Great f***ing job. F*** you.” He continued shouting at Pinoargote, telling him, “You’re going to be on the f***ing blacklist for my matches.
Never again. Literally had it out for me today. F***ing insane.
” After a cooling down period, Tiafoe posted an apology to social media. "I really apologise for the way I acted tonight," Tiafoe said in an Instagram story. "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 behaviour and I want to apologise to the umpire, the tournament, and the fans. I'll be better for y'all.
" However it was not enough to avoid costly consequences, receiving two fines. He was docked $60,000 for verbal abuse and another $60,000 for aggravated behaviour, making it the second biggest fine imposed on a player in ATP Tour history. That honour is held by Hugo Haston who was fined nearly $152,000 in 2024 for a fourth incident of unsportsmanlike conduct in a single season.
The ATP’s 2024 rule book states that verbally abusing someone can lead to fines up to $60,000 but, if serious, a supervisor can escalate the matter to a committee for an investigation. Tiafoe’s management have not made a comment on the fine but they have the right to appeal. Players have 25 seconds at the end of each point to serve, timed by a clock, but with the score locked at 5-5, Tiafoe tossed the ball up with seemingly little intention of hitting it just before the clock hit zero.
It led the umpire to dish out a time violation and put him onto his second serve. "No, I tossed the ball up," Tiafoe said in protest. "I was at the line and I tossed the ball.
" The umpire responded: "I'm not buying this, it's the second serve now, OK?" Tiafoe clapped back: "I tossed the ball, I'm ready to serve. Dude, that's the rule. The ball goes up, how am I not ready to serve?" A thrilling 12-point rally ensued that was won by Safiullin thanks to a brilliant cross-court volley, who subsequently won the following point and the match.
Safiullin went on to face tennis superstar Novak Djokovic in the round of 16 but lost 6-3 6-2. Tiafoe is scheduled to return to the court in December to regain top fitness for the Australian Open which starts January 12 in Melbourne..
