If you missed what happened early Tuesday morning during Frances Tiafoe’s match against Roman Safiullin in the Shanghai Masters, you aren’t alone.
That’s because it seems the ATP has all but ignored the three-set thriller on account of Tiafoe’s behavior after a controversial time violation call while the final set tiebreaker was locked at five points a piece.
Moment which lead to Tiafoe lashing out on the umpire.
Umpire gave him time violation warning and took his first serve away.
He said ‘I’m not buying it, this is now second serve’
Tiafoe said ‘ I tossed the ball, this is the rule’
— edgeAI (@edgeAIapp) October 8, 2024
“No no no no. I tossed the ball. No no no. I tossed the ball. I tossed the ball. I was at the line, I tossed the ball. This is the rule,” an exasperated Tiafoe said as he approached the chair umpire. “Dude that’s the rule! The ball goes up, how am I not ready to serve?”
The chair umpire did not agree, standing by his call that Tiafoe would now be on his second serve. The two-time U.S. Open semifinalist would lose the match two points later. That’s when the wheels came off for Big Foe.
Umpire gave an unwarranted time violation to Tiafoe at 5-5 in the 3rd set tiebreak. American was furious about that as he only had a 2nd serve, he lost the point which led to a MP for Safiullin…
Frances went too far, but as an athlete, I completely understand his frustration.… pic.twitter.com/OuUvBLd5ok
— Budy – tennis betting🇨🇿🎾 (@budybet) October 8, 2024
“F*** you man. F*** you. Seriously man, f*** you. You f****d me, I’ll f*** you back,” a livid Tiafoe screamed at the chair umpire following the match.
And while by any means, a Masters round of 32 match that includes a high-profile American player and ends 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 would usually warrant a social media post or two by the ATP, this one went dark on the tour’s social channels after one highlight video from the second set. There’s been no mention of the match, or its result, since the highlight was posted.
Threading the needle 🪡@FTiafoe | @SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/mB0UNAooIG
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 8, 2024
As much as the ATP would’ve liked to cover up Tiafoe’s explosion, the video immediately made the rounds on social media. And though some of them have been stricken down on copyright grounds, many videos of the incident are still out there.
For his part, Tiafoe took to social media on Wednesday to apologize for his actions.
Tiafoe apologizes after his actions today pic.twitter.com/pikRhdxYRx
— Philip Fama (@tweener_head) October 8, 2024
“I really apologize for the way I acted tonight. That is not who I am and not how I ever want to treat people,” he wrote. “I let my frustration in the heat of the moment get the best of me and I’m extremely disappointed with how I handled the situation. That’s not acceptable behavior and I want to apologize to the umpire, the tournament, and the fans. I’ll be better for yall.”
As we’ve seen countless times, the attempted coverup usually results in a situation receiving more attention than it would have if there wasn’t such an attempt at damage control. Now it’s the ATP’s turn to learn that lesson.
[X/@edgeAIapp, @budybet, @tweener_head, ATP]
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.