Frances Tiafoe likely complicated his life after his loss at the 2024 Shanghai Masters as he raged at the umpire without any filter.
The American player has struggled a lot in 2024, but he finally found some inspired level at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, reaching the final, in which he lost to Jannik Sinner.
He then also played in the US Open semi-final, and it seemed that Tiafoe finally found his level again. However, at the Japan Open in Tokyo, he surprisingly lost to compatriot Brandon Nakashima.
The 26-year-old then moved to China for the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season - the Shanghai Masters. In the second round, he beat home player Yi Zhou, 6-2, 6-4 without facing too many issues.
However, in his third-round match, Tiafoe faced plenty of issues against Roman Safiullin. Despite winning the first set 7-5 and leading 2-0 in the second, he lost the one-break advantage and soon the score was 4-4.
The American had three break points to go into a 5-4 lead and serve for the match, but he couldn't convert his chances and lost the second set 5-7, with the third set left to decide who would take on Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.
It seemed that Safiullin would be the player, as he broke first, and at 5-3, the Russian player served for the set. But with an inspired comeback, Tiafoe was able to force a third-set tie-break.
He fell behind one mini-break twice but recovered on both occasions to make it 5-5. However, it was at that point that he clashed with the umpire of the match, Jimmy Pinoargote.
Tiafoe was running late to serve for the next rally, so when he approached the line to serve, he didn't have time to properly prepare, bounce the ball, and go through his serve motion.
To avoid a time violation, which would be his second in the match, resulting in the loss of his first serve, he just tossed the ball into the air without being ready to serve, suggesting that it was an attempt to serve, wanting to avoid the time violation.
However, umpire Pinoargote didn't agree with Tiafoe's approach and immediately gave him the time violation. Obviously, the American player disagreed, approaching the umpire and explaining.
"No, no, no. I tossed the ball. I tossed the ball, ready to serve. Dude, that's the rule. The ball goes up, how am I not ready to serve?"
However, the umpire's opinion didn't change, as he stated: "I’m not buying it, this is now second serve." The American player had no choice but continue, and he did, losing the next two points to lose the match 7-5, 5-7, 6-7(5).
Following the loss, he shook his opponent's hand, and everything seemed normal, but only for a moment. As he approached the umpire, Tiafoe didn't have any plan to shake his hand, but instead started screaming at the umpire.
"F*** you man! F*** you! Seriously man. F*** you, you f***ed me the f***king match! Why? You f**cked the match up. Three f***ing hours."
Tiafoe will very likely face disqualification from his match, which will result in him losing all points and prize money earned at the 2024 Shanghai Masters. On top of that, he will likely receive a huge fine for his actions.