Frances Tiafoe facing mammoth $120,000 fine for on-court sweary tirade at umpire during Shanghai Masters

America’s Frances Tiafoe is reportedly set to be fined a handsome amount of $120,000 for using indecent language toward the chair umpire during the Shanghai Masters. The 26-year-old was involved in a heated argument with the chair umpire during the competition, which was held in October.

Tiafoe faced Russia’s Roman Safiullin in the round of 32. He ended up losing in the contest with a score of 5-7, 7-5, 7-6. In the third set, Tiafoe was docked for time-wasting when it was nicely poised at 5-5. The Maryland-born first argued with the umpire by saying: "No, no, I tossed the ball up. I was ready to serve. Dude, that’s the rule."

That argument did not end there as Tiafoe went on to use indecent language towards the umpire after the match. "F**k you, man! F**k you! Seriously, man. You f**ked me out of the f***ing match,” he said towards the umpire. After the incident, it was speculated that the reigning world number 18 will be heavily penalised for his reaction towards the match official. As per the latest report, the fear is becoming a reality as Tiafoe is set to be fined around $120,000 for the incident.

That result in Shanghai continued Tiafoe's poor results in the last quarter of the season. Before that, he lost in the first round of the Japan Open to fellow American Brandon Nakashima. After the Shanghai Masters, Tiafoe lost in the second round of the Vienna Open and in the first round of the Paris Masters. In between, he was knocked out of the Almaty Open after losing in the quarterfinal. Overall, Tiafoe would not be pleased with his performance in 2024, where he managed to win 32 matches and lost 26. Despite taking part in as many as 26 events, he failed to lift a single title in 2024. His best performance came in the Cincinnati Open, where he finished as the runner-up after losing to world number one Jannik Sinner in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-2.