Frances Tiafoe always says exactly what he means. This is one of his great charms, winning him lots of attention and affection from fans. That candor will also likely wind up costing him thousands of dollars.
Tuesday's third-round match at the Shanghai Masters, between the No. 13 seeded Tiafoe and Roman Safiullin, came down to a third-set tiebreak. At 5-5, Tiafoe was still recovering from the previous point with the 25-second serve clock ticking down. The rules state that a player must "start their service motion" before the clock runs out. Tiafoe, clearly aware of the letter of the law, tossed the ball up. He didn't move his racquet arm at all, and did not have much intent of hitting it. Evidently umpire Jimmy Pinoargote felt the same, because he called out, "Time violation, loss of serve, Mr. Tiafoe." (The first time violation gets a verbal warning, and the second counts as a fault for the server. This was Tiafoe's third of the match.)
Tiafoe insisted that because he had tossed the ball up while standing at the baseline, that should have counted as the beginning of the service motion. "I'm not buying it. This is second serve now," said Pinoargote, who didn't budge despite Tiafoe's continued protests.
Tiafoe lost the next two points and the match, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(5). After shaking Safiullin's hand, Tiafoe looked directly at the umpire and let it rip: "Fuck you, man! Fuck you! Seriously man, fuck you, you fucked me the fucking match!" He continued: "Why? All these guys are enjoying entertainment. You fucked the match up! Great fucking job. Fuck you!" And then: "Three fucking hours, I'm out here battling, only for my livelihood." And finally, once the audio returned: "You're going on the fucking blacklist for my matches. Never again."
Tiafoe's going to be fined a lot. Page 234 of the ATP rulebook allows for fines up to $60,000 for incidents of verbal abuse at a Masters 1000 event. One possible precedent can be found at the 2022 Miami Open, when Nick Kyrgios had to pay $35,000 in fines for audible obscenities, two separate instances of unsportsmanlike conduct, and verbal abuse. He had called the umpire an "absolute clown."
Tiafoe's outburst had crystal-clear audio, and he said "Fuck you" a lot. Per the ATP rulebook, instances of verbal abuse that are "flagrant and particularly injurious to the success of a tournament, or are singularly egregious," could be deemed a "Major Offense - Aggravated Behavior," which could bring fines up to $100,000 and a suspension from play for a minimum of 21 days.
Hours later, Tiafoe atoned for his behavior with the requisite Instagram story. I'm sure the tour welcomes the apology, but it still won't save him any dough.
