The American tennis player apologized for his tirade, which he directed at the referee, who reprimanded him several times in the match against his Russian opponent Roman Safiullin for delaying the game with his own serve. The meeting of the third round at the ATP tournament in Shanghai ended with the victory of the Russian 5:7, 7:5, 7:6 (5).
On the court, the American repeatedly shouted at the referee, who was the Ecuadorian Jimmy Pinoargote. The latter warned him several times about the non-compliance with the time limit on the submission.
Moreover, it happened at 5:5 in the tiebreak of the third set.
“No, no, I threw the ball in the air. That means I started serving. That’s how it is in the rules,” Tiafoe defended himself.
“I won’t eat it for you. You lose your serve, you have a second serve,” responded Pinoargote.
VIDEO: Incident in the Tiafoe – Safiullin match
Just before that, a similar situation happened when Tiafoe cleared his throat shortly before serving. Even in that case, the referee could not be softened and ordered a second serve.
In the end, the American lost the tiebreak and thus the entire match, and after shaking hands with his opponent, he did not hesitate for a moment and immediately launched a shower of profanities directed clearly at the referee.
The ATP did not immediately respond to the incident, but it can be expected that Tiafoe will have to pay a hefty fine. It can climb up to 60 thousand dollars.
The tennis player himself later regretted his behavior and posted an apology on Instagram.
“It wasn’t me. I never want to treat people like that again in my life. I let my frustration consume me and succumbed to the moment. I am very disappointed in how I handled the situation,” Tiafoe wrote.
He emphasized that his behavior was unacceptable and apologized to the referee and the fans.
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
