American tennis player Frances Tiafoe’s Shanghai Masters journey came to an unceremonious end. The world number 17 got involved in a heated argument with the umpire over a controversial call made at a crucial stage of the match.
During his round-of-32 clash against Russia’s Roman Safiullin, Tiafoe was serving in the last-set tiebreaker when both players were tied at 5-5. The service clock was about to end when Tiafoe tossed the ball in the air to save the time limit violation.
However, the umpire still decided to call it a violation, which made the American lose his first serve. Tiafoe went to the chair umpire and argued that since he had tossed the ball before the clock showed 0:00, he shouldn’t receive any violation.
The umpire, however, refused to budge, and Tiafoe was forced to make his second serve, ultimately losing the point to Safiullin after a couple of returns. The Russian was able to take one more point and eliminate Tiafoe from the tournament.
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
However, fans believe Tiafoe was at fault. His stance while tossing the ball up clearly suggests he wasn’t intending to serve.
@FTiafoe needs to apologize. That wasn’t a real ball toss.
— Clay (@_claymagazine) October 8, 2024
He was obviously far from “ready” to serve.
— Sideline Films (@SidelineFilmz) October 8, 2024
Tiafoe is making a fool of himself. He had absolutely no intention of serving, so it can’t be considered a legitimate ball toss for a serve.
— Łukasz (@IPaNema4freedom) October 8, 2024
After the match, during the customary handshake between the two players and the umpire, Tiafoe did the unthinkable.
Tiafoe Abuses The Umpire
Instead of the ceremonial handshake, he lashed out at the umpire and abused him publicly, shouting, “F**k you” at him several times. The rage he was going through was quite visible in his body language. It was a very unusual scene since the American is popular for being a funny and chillout guy on the ATP tour.
Francis Tiafoe shouts ‘F•ck you’, seriously ‘F•ck you man’ to the umpire at the end of the match against Roman Safiullin. pic.twitter.com/gn0OMCSjn6
— edgeAI (@edgeAIapp) October 8, 2024
This reaction was also not taken well by fans, who believed he acted ‘out of character’ and felt it set a bad example for the young generation following the game.
If that’s not a 6 month suspension, tennis has lost the plot
— BK (@borris_k) October 8, 2024
Oh wow … I missed this match. This is so out of character for Tiafoe
What happened?
— Sosa (@Sosa246810) October 8, 2024
Hope he’s getting seriously sanctioned. Has to be fined and stopped for a month, unacceptable
— Francesco (@Checco_98r) October 8, 2024
While this time it’s his enraged behavior, earlier it was his carefree attitude that got him in trouble with the fans.
During the 2024 Laver Cup closing ceremony, Team Europe’s captain Bjorn Borg took the stage to address the crowd. While he was delivering his speech on the podium, Tiafoe was seen whispering something in Ben Shelton’s ears, laughing, and trying to make his fellow American laugh as well.
This action was also not taken well by fans, who considered it an act of disrespect towards the legendary Swedish tennis player.
