Frances Tiafoe has expressed regret after his outburst directed at a chair umpire following a time violation during his third-round match against Roman Safiullin at the Shanghai Masters. The unseeded Safiullin triumphed over 13th seed Tiafoe with a score of 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(5) in a match that lasted nearly three hours.
Tiafoe lost his temper after being called for a time violation while serving with the score tied at 5-5 in the deciding set. He repeatedly insisted that he was ready to serve, but chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote maintained that it was a second serve and concluded their discussion by confirming the call over the microphone. Tiafoe went on to lose the point, which contributed to his defeat.
After the match, Tiafoe confronted Pinoargote, using profanities as he returned to his seat, which drew laughter from some fans in attendance. Although the ATP has not commented on the incident, the rules indicate that Tiafoe could face fines of up to $60,000 for violations occurring at Masters 1000 tournaments.
Later, Tiafoe took to Instagram to apologize for his behavior. He stated, “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 behavior, and I want to apologize to the umpire, the tournament, and the fans.”
Ranked 17th in the world, Tiafoe had recently shown strong form, reaching the finals of both the Citi Open and the Cincinnati Open, in addition to the semi-finals of the U.S. Open.