Tennis star Frances Tiafoe apologizes for shocking outburst on court

Tennis star Frances Tiafoe apologized after engaging in a profanity-filled rant against a referee.

After his loss Roman Safiullin At the ATP Shanghai Masters event on Tuesday, October 8, 26-year-old Tiafoe unleashed a tirade against the referee Jimmy Pinoargote.

“F–you, man! F-you! Seriously, man. F-you!” Tiafoe screamed. “You kicked me out of the damn match! You screwed up the match! Great damn job! F-you! I've been out here fighting for three damn hours. Just for a living.”

Tiafoe, who reached the US Open semi-finals in September, was upset by a questionable time violation inflicted on him by Pinoargote at a crucial moment in the third set tiebreak.

“I truly apologize for my behavior,” Tiafoe wrote on his Instagram Story on Tuesday. “That’s not who I am and it’s not how I want to treat people. I let my frustration out in the heat of the moment and am extremely disappointed with how I handled the situation.”

He continued: “This is not acceptable behavior and I would like to apologize to the referee, the tournament and the fans.”

Although no fine has been announced, players face a $60,000 fine for “verbally insulting an official.”

In the incident in question, Tiafoe was given a time violation by Pinoargote when the score was 5-5 in the final set tiebreak.

“No, no, no, no. I threw the ball up,” Tiafoe said as he walked from the service line to the umpire’s chair. “No, I threw the ball up. I was at the line and threw the ball up.”

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Tiafoe's argument fell on deaf ears, and Pinoargote told him, “I don't buy it. It’s the second serve now.”

The American tennis star remained excited and shouted: “Dude, that’s the rule!” The ball is going up, why am I not ready to serve?”

A player will be assessed a timeout if he does not begin his service motion before the shot clock reaches zero. Due to the violation, Tiafoe lost his first serve. Tiafoe lost the tiebreak and the match against the unseeded Safiullin.

Currently ranked 17th in the world, Tiafoe reached his second US Open semifinal this summer, where he lost to his fellow American Taylor Fritz. Last June, Tiafoe rose to No. 10 in the ATP rankings, his highest ranking to date.