- American unhappy with time violation decision
- Tiafoe faces penalties for verbal abuse of official
US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe aimed a torrent of expletives at the chair umpire after losing his third-round match at the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday.
Tiafoe targeted umpire Jimmy Pinoargote in a minute-long tirade after his 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 loss against unseeded Roman Safiullin. The American was angered after being docked his first serve for a time violation at 5-5 in the decisive tiebreaker.
Pinoargote judged that Tiafoe was not making a genuine attempt to serve when he tossed the ball in the air at the baseline. Tiafoe at first protested before continuing with the match. “No, no, I tossed the ball up … I was ready to serve,” Tiafoe said to Pinoargote. “Dude, that’s the rule.”