October 08, (THEWILL) – American tennis player, Frances Tiafoe, has apologised for his outburst at chair umpire, Jimmy Pinoargote, during his Shanghai Masters third-round defeat to Roman Safiullin on Tuesday.
The 13th-seeded Tiafoe lost 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 to unseeded Safiullin in a three-hour match. The incident occurred when Tiafoe received a time violation while serving at 5-5 in the final set tiebreak. Despite his protests that he had already tossed the ball up to serve, Pinoargote maintained his decision and called for a second serve.
After losing the match, Tiafoe directed a string of expletives toward the Ecuadorian official while walking back to his seat, much to the amusement of the remaining spectators. The ATP Tour has not yet commented on the incident, though their rulebook states that players can face fines of up to $60,000 for each violation at Masters 1000 tournaments.
Tiafoe later posted an apology on Instagram, stating that his behaviour was unacceptable and not representative of who he is. The world number 17 expressed regret for letting his frustrations get the better of him and apologised to the umpire, tournament organisers, and fans.
The incident marks a low point in what has been a strong period for Tiafoe, who had reached the finals of both the Citi Open and Cincinnati Open, as well as the semi-finals of the US Open in recent months.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
