American tennis star Frances Tiafoe has apologized for his behavior at the ATP Shanghai Masters after he insulted the referee following his third-round loss. Tiafoe was upset that he had been given two time violations, including one late in the third set tiebreak in a match he would ultimately lose to unseeded Roman Safiullin.
After congratulating Safiullin with a handshake at the net, Tiafoe unleashed his anger on the referee Jimmy Pinoargote, hitting him after a series of decisions that Tiafoe disagreed with, namely a time violation in the third set tiebreak, which just like Tiafoe was about to throw the ball and cost him his first serve. You can watch the clip via the link below, but beware of the NSFW language.
“F— you, man! F— you! Seriously, man, f— you!” shouted Tiafoe. “You screwed me in that damn match…Three fucking hours and you'll do this. Why? …You screwed up the match!” Great damn job! Three damn hours of me out here fighting just for a living.
Tiafoe later apologized for his outburst on his Instagram account.
“This is not who I am and not how I would ever want to treat people,” Tiafoe wrote in one Instagram story. “I let my frustration out in the heat of the moment and am extremely disappointed with how I handled the situation. This is not acceptable behavior and I would like to apologize to the referee, the tournament and the fans.” will be better for all of you.
Tiafoe is currently ranked 17th in the world and reached the pinnacle of his performance at last month's US Open, where he advanced to the semi-finals and recorded his best ever run at a Grand Slam event.
