By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Frances Tiafoe lost his first serve at 5-5 in the final set tiebreak against Roman Safiullin.
He then lost the match.
Finally, he lost his composure as Safiullin registered a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(5) victory.
Tiafoe was frustrated with a decision made by chair referee Jimmy Pinoargote, but it appears that Pinoargote was within his rights to call Tiafoe for a time violation.
The replay shows Tiafoe late on the service line, preparing to serve 5 in the tiebreak, when he throws the ball in the air. But it was clear that Tiafoe wasn’t going to hit the shot, which is why he was docked for the violation.
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“I dropped the ball and I was ready to serve,” argued Tiafoe. “That’s the rule.”
Tiafoe dropped the ball, but it was clear he wasn’t ready to serve. We can’t see the clock in the video below, so we’ll have to assume that the 25-second clock ticked down to zero (Tiafoe wasn’t arguing that there was time on the clock).
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 threw a barrage of insults at Pinoargote. He will surely be fined for his actions.
Warning: the following video contains bad language:
ATP social media totally ignored Safiullin’s win over Tiafoe and… here’s why.
Terrible behavior from Frances, who should expect a huge fine. pic.twitter.com/LTy1ANi7Cw
– José Morgado (@josemorgado) October 8, 2024
