Frances Tiafoe has been fined $120,000 for his outburst of profanity directed at a chair umpire during the Shanghai Masters last month.
The ATP, the governing body for men’s tennis, announced on Thursday that Tiafoe was penalized with a $60,000 fine for aggravated behavior, in addition to the maximum on-site fine of $60,000 for verbal abuse. This incident occurred during Tiafoe’s match against Russian Roman Safiullin.
The American expressed his frustration when he received a time violation on a first serve during a crucial moment in the final set tie-break, with the score level at 5-5. Tiafoe was heard arguing with chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote, saying, “No, no, no, no, I tossed the ball up … I was ready to serve. Dude, that’s the rule.”
In response, Pinoargote dismissed Tiafoe’s claim, stating, “I’m not buying it, it’s the second serve,” and confirmed over the microphone that it was indeed Tiafoe’s second serve. Ultimately, Tiafoe lost the point and the match. After shaking hands with Safiullin at the net, Tiafoe unleashed a series of expletives at the umpire as Safiullin celebrated his victory, prompting some laughter from the crowd.
Following the match, the current world No. 18 took to social media to apologize for his behavior. “That is not who I am and not how I want to treat people,” Tiafoe wrote on Instagram. “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.”
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