By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Photo: Zhe Ji/Getty
At his best, Frances Tiafoe plays with the joy of a professional debutante.
Lately, Tiafoe has been bringing madness to match play – and says repeated time violations as triggers for temper tantrums.
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Tiafoe was in charge today Cameron Norrie 6-4, 7-6(4) in Vienna despite a collision with the chair umpire at the end of the opening set.
Serving at 5-4, Tiafoe, who is sweating as much as the young man Patrick Rafter, got hit with a time violation warning while pulling the towel.
Tiafoe briefly argued both the time of the call and the fact that the towel racks were a long enough distance for him to walk during the 25 seconds between points.
Avoiding several break points, Tiafoe rallied from 15-40 down to serve out the first set shouting “yes! Let’s go!” to the chair umpire as he moved to his courtside chair.
That action prompted another warning that prompted Tiafoe to speak with the tournament umpire.
Through R2 😃@FTiafoe beats Norrie 6-4 7-6 to set up a clash against Berrettini in Vienna!#ErsteBankHapur pic.twitter.com/TFb7tcqzOH
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 22, 2024
After the match, the former US Open semifinalist was asked if he was worried his outbursts set a poor example for the kids watching him. Tiafoe said he has been hit with a time violation for what he said was the fourth game in a row.
“Look, I mean a lot of my fans are kids, man. And I get that. I know the effect I have on kids and kids want to be like me,” Tiafoe said. “The passion I play with and the joy I play with and they can see themselves in me.
“And I don’t take those moments for granted.”
While Tiafoe didn’t say officials were targeting him, he called the repeated time violations “crazy.”
“But at the same time, we’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears in here. And for me to play four games in a row and get four fouls in a row is crazy,” Tiafoe said. “And it has to be talked about because then that’s the loss of points, the loss of money, the loss of opportunities, you know, the fines that come with that because of the backlash.”
The reaction wasn’t exactly fun, fun, fun when Big Foe dropped a flurry of F-bombs on the chair ref in Shanghai earlier this month.
Angered he was hit with a time violation during his loss to Roman Safiullin, Tiafoe unleashed a barrage of F-bombs reminiscent of youngsters Ilie Nastase and John McEnroe.
The moment that led to Tiafoe attacking the referee.
The umpire gave him a warning for the time violation and waved off his first serve.
He said ‘I’m not buying it, now it’s the second service’
Tiafoe said ‘I threw the ball, that’s the rule’
— edgeAI (@edgeAIapp) October 8, 2024
After losing the next two points, Tiafoe shook hands with Safiulli and made obscene remarks to chair umpire Pinoargote. Tiafoe later apologized for that outburst.
Today, Tiafoe said he will temper his patience when the officials “make a change”.
“I’ll handle it better when they make a change. As long as I keep at it, I don’t think there’s going to be any change,” Tiafoe said in his on-court interview after defeating Norrie. “For me it’s very funny to get four fouls in four games.
“I’ve been on Tour 10 years and this has never happened. So I just want to know why.”
