Frances Tiafoe screamed “f*** you” at the umpire as he lost a close three-setter at the Shanghai Masters.
The American appeared calm as he shook hands with Roman Safiullin after losing a three-hour thriller in a final set tiebreak.
But he erupted as he approached the chair official, screaming and swearing at him repeatedly and refusing to shake his hand.
Tiafoe and Safiullin found themselves embroiled in a tight contest in the third round of the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday. After going down a break in the decider, the world No. 17 kept himself alive and broke when Safiullin served for it.
They headed into a tiebreak, where Tiafoe was slapped with a time violation at 5-5. It wasn’t his first in the match, meaning it came with a loss of first serve at a crucial moment.
“Time violation, loss of serve. Mr Tiafoe,” umpire Jimmy Pinoargote announced. Tiafoe immediately stormed up to the chair.
“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,” he protested.
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