Frances Tiafoe and Matteo Berrettini indulged in an action-packed three-set thriller in the second round of the Vienna Open 2024. Despite suffering a tough loss, Tiafoe’s flawless drop shot was the highlight point of the match. Taylor Fritz was among the many who reacted to the rally, but the American didn’t laud his compatriot. Instead, Fritz made a humorous reference to a recent lingering issue.
Berrettini and Tiafoe had a great battle of powerful rallies from their respective baselines in the fifth game of the second set. After exchanging a few shots, the Italian star’s backhand bounced on the net. However, the higher-ranked Tiafoe did a great job in tracking down the ball and returned a gorgeous drop shot.
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This point left fans in awe. The crowd present in the Center Court as well as Berrettini applauded in disbelief. Clips of the rally blew up on social media within minutes.
Fans praised the 26-year-old for his sublime “touch”. However, Fritz had a different reaction than others. He highlighted an issue that Foe has recently been struggling with – adhering to the shot clock.
“@bigfoe1998 definitely got a time violation after this,” Fritz wrote.
Tiafoe has struggled to comply with the new automatic shot clock rule. His NSFW remarks to the umpires and frustrated reactions have caused a massive stir in the tennis community. But the US Open 2024 finalist Fritz dismissed the incident by playfully trolling his friend.
Tiafoe gets a time violation in four games
Frances Tiafoe had a major outburst during the Shanghai Masters 2024. Umpire Jimmy Pinoargote took the American’s first-serve in the deciding-set tiebreak against Roman Safiullin. This penalty broke his rhythm, resulting in a second-round loss.
Foe made it pretty clear that he disagreed with the call by screaming “f**k you” to the umpire after the conclusion of the match.
The former World No.10 would receive time violations in the subsequent three matches – two at the Almaty Open 2024 and the first round of the Estre Bank Open 2024. Tiafoe finally commented on this lingering issue, denouncing the ATP for the new rule.
“We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears out here. And for me to play four consecutive matches and get four consecutive time violations is insane. It needs to be spoken about. Because then it’s loss of points, loss of money, loss of opportunity, fines that come because of reactions.” Tiafoe said.
Frances Tiafoe has received 4 time violations in his last 4 matches.
Is it time to revisit the automatic shot clock start that was implemented in June⁉️ #TCLive pic.twitter.com/gOSshwOIR7
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) October 22, 2024
Tiafoe isn’t the only one who has a problem with the shot clock rule. Tsitsipas was also furious when he was penalized for a time violation during his loss to Daniil Medvedev in the Shanghai Masters. It will be interesting to see how ATP addresses this issue, as numerous stars continue to express their displeasure over it.
