Frances Tiafoe acknowledges he is aware that there are kids following him but also bluntly remarked that he will change when officials start doing a better job.
After hurling 13 F-bombs at chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote during a stunning Shanghai Masters outburst earlier this month, the American also got annoyed with Adel Nour in Vienna after the experienced umpire hit him with a time violation in the key moments of the first set.Â
With Tiafoe having a 5-4 lead and a chance to serve out for the first time, Nour felt that the world No. 15 took too long while retrieving his towel and gave him a violation. After receiving a time violation, the 2022 US Open champion faced a 15-40 on his serve – but managed to save both break points – he screamed “Yeah!” and “Let’s go!” – which led to another warning. That didn’t make the 26-year-old happy at all and he made that clear to Nour.
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Tiafoe: This is insane…
Following the incident, the American managed to seal a 6-4 7-6 (4) win over Cameron Norrie. Afterward when asked if he was concerned his outbursts weren’t sending a good example, he noted he “understood” that part but also suggested that he needs to be understood.Â
“And for me to play four consecutive matches and get four consecutive time violations is insane. And it needs to be spoken about because then that’s loss of points, loss of money, loss of opportunity, you know, fines come with that because of reaction… I’ll deal with it better when they make a change. The more I kind of just go on with it I don’t think any change will happen. Me getting four time violations in four matches is pretty ridiculous to me. I’ve been on Tour 10 years and that’s never happened. So I just want to know why,” Tiafoe said.
Unfortunately for the American, his Vienna run ended in the round-of-16 stage following a three-set loss to Matteo Berrettini.