Frances Tiafoe was furious! 🤬 Tiafoe was given a time violation at 5-5 in the deciding tiebreak after tossing the ball. Roman Safiullin went on to win the Shanghai Masters third-round match.
“Let’s not define him by his worst moment”: Andy Roddick defends Tiafoe after Shanghai meltdown
ATPTuesday, 15 October 2024 at 20:30
Andy Roddick commented on Frances Tiafoe's furious outburst against the umpire at the Shanghai Masters. The American was eliminated in the third round by Roman Safiulin, 7-5, 5-7, 6-7(5), in a match marked by a warning two points from the end.
It was a closely contested match where the Russian recovered from a set down to take it to a third set. With everything tied, the match was to be decided in a tie-break. The most tense moment came when Tiafoe was serving at 5-5 in the final set’s tie-break, and he received a warning from the umpire, costing him his first serve, much to the protests of Big-Foe.
"Everyone knows Frances is a good guy" - Andy Roddick
The penalty proved costly for Tiafoe, as with his second serve, Safiulin seized the opportunity to break, and then, serving for the match, closed out the controversial contest. This sparked the fury of the 26-year-old American, who confronted the chair umpire, angrily getting in his face.
"Frances kind of made a mockery of it, which, you know, apparently if you mock it, it’s too far," commented former world No. 1 Andy Roddick regarding the incident involving his compatriot. "Then he loses it and says, 'F you, F you, F you,' in no uncertain terms to the umpire."
"The umpire quickly says, 'I probably shouldn’t have said that.' What are we going to say? He tapped out, he made a mistake, probably lucky he didn’t get suspended, probably felt like a fine was a win at that point," added the 2003 US Open champion. "I get it. But I’m kind of more annoyed by the general allowance of the toss and then switching the rules because someone’s kind of making a mockery of something that’s stupid in the first place."
Frances Tiafoe reached US Open semifinals and lost to Taylor Fritz
Although Roddick criticized Tiafoe's behavior, he also emphasized that it is not typical of the current world No. 15. "This is not Frances. Let’s not define him by his worst moment. It’s late in the season, circumstances are frustrating... anyone in tennis knows this isn’t who he is. It’s not like this moment defines him or reveals something dark inside."
"Everyone knows Frances is a good guy; this was wildly out of character. I think everyone’s response has been a bit of an eye-roll, but we know he can’t do that and not expect a penalty," stated Roddick. "At the same time, what are we really going to say here? People will say, 'I can’t believe you’re laughing about this,' but I can’t help it. I’ve done petulant stuff on court, too, and I can’t pretend I wouldn’t have lost it in the same way at some point."
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