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American tennis pro Frances Tiafoe l ost his cool and lashed out badly at the chair umpire during the ATP Shanghai. Tiafoe launched a verbal attack at the umpire as he lost his match to Roman Safiullin at the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday, October 10. The American recorded a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5) defeat against the world number 61 Safiullin in the Round of 32. The loss didn’t go well with the American and he ended up lashing out at the chair umpire.
During the match, Tiafoe made his way back in the match after a break in the decider. Ultimately the game headed into a tiebreaker of the decider set, where Tiafoe was fined with a time violation when the score tally read 5-5. The fine led to a loss of first serve for the American, which ultimately led to his defeat. Umpire Jimmy Pinoargote said, “Time violation, loss of serve. Mr Tiafoe.” The American protested against the fine and said, “No. No, no, no. I tossed the ball up. I tossed the ball up. I tossed the ball. I was back behind and I tossed the ball. I tossed the ball and I was ready to serve.”
Frances Tiafoe lashes out at umpire after loss at Shanghai Masters
After the match, Tiafoe shook hands with his opponent but lost his temper completely and erupted into a rant at the chair umpire. The Tennis player repeatedly hurled abuse at him and refused to shake hands with him. He said, “F*ck you, f*ck you, man. Seriously man, f*ck you, you f*cking idiot. You f*cked me in the match, do your f*cking job. Three f*cking hours, I’m fighting and running for my life.”
Notably, Tiafoe had received the warning when the ball was in the air in the middle of the serve. However, it is also to be noted that the umpire had already warned him about time violations multiple times, where such warnings could have played a big role.
