Frances Tiafoe has been fined $120,000 (almost £95,000) for swearing repeatedly at umpire Jimmy Pinoargote after receiving a time violation during last month’s Shanghai Masters.
Tiafoe was fined $60,000 (£47,400) for verbal abuse and another $60,000 for aggravated behavior, two people briefed on the details of Tiafoe’s punishment, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect relationships confirmed Thursday.
It is the second-biggest fine imposed on a player in ATP Tour history, although players have lost more money from being defaulted (thrown out) of tournaments for their behavior, which entails losing prize money.
Tiafoe’s camp was not immediately available for comment on the fine. He has the right to appeal the fine.
World No. 18 Tiafoe was playing world No. 60 Roman Safiullin in China when he stepped up to serve at 5-5 in a tiebreak to decide the result of the match. After winning a long rally, the American walked up to the baseline and tossed a ball into the air, his right arm — and racket — by his side.
The serving player has 25 seconds after the end of one point in which to serve to start the next, timed by a clock which automatically starts three seconds after the conclusion of each point. The clock is no longer controlled by the umpire, as it used to be, which allowed them to use discretion over long rallies or lengthy applause, but also led to allegations of bias and favorable treatment towards top players.
Tiafoe claimed he had followed the rules, which say that players must begin their “service motion” in that 25 seconds, but the non-movement of his hitting arm led Pinoargote to issue a time violation. It was his third of the match, so he lost his first serve — and the point — to go match point down. Safiullin won the next point and the match 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(5), at which point Tiafoe congratulated his opponent before beginning to shout at the umpire:
“F*** you, man. F*** you. Seriously, man. F*** you. You f***ed me” he told Pinoargote as he walked towards the umpire.
After a pause, Tiafoe added: “You f***ed the match up. Great f***ing job. F*** you.”
He continued shouting at Pinoargote, telling him, “You’re going to be on the f***ing blacklist for my matches. Never again. Literally had it out for me today. F***ing insane.”
According to the ATP’s 2024 rulebook: “Players shall not at any time directly or indirectly verbally abuse an official, opponent, sponsor, spectator or any other person within the precincts of the tournament site. Verbal abuse is defined as any statement about an official, opponent, sponsor, spectator or any other person that implies dishonesty or is derogatory, insulting or otherwise abusive.
“Violation of this section shall subject a player to a fine up to $60,000 (£45,767) for ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournaments for each violation.
“In circumstances that are flagrant and particularly injurious to the success of a tournament, or are singularly egregious, the ATP Supervisor may refer the matter to the ATP Members Fines Committee who shall conduct an investigation to determine whether (a) Major Offense of Aggravated Behavior or Conduct Contrary to the Integrity of the Game has occurred. Prize money earned at that event shall be held by ATP until the ATP Members Fines Committee has concluded their investigation and made a determination.”
Tiafoe’s two fines have duly arrived, the first for verbal abuse and the second the “major offense of aggravated behavior.” He is expected to return to the court in late December, in the tune-up tournaments for the Australian Open, which begins January 12 in Melbourne.
Hugo Gaston holds the dubious honor of receiving the largest fine in ATP Tour history. The Frenchman was fined €144,000 (nearly $152,000) for a fourth incident of unsportsmanlike conduct in a single season. While his opponent, the Croatian Borna Coric, was waiting to hit a smash that would win him a set, Gaston threw a spare ball onto the court. According to the rules of tennis, a spare ball affecting play results in the ongoing point being stopped and replayed.
His fine was reduced to €77,000 (nearly $76,000) on appeal, subject to a 12-month period of good behavior.
‘Given ATP fines from the past, $120,000 is seriously eye-popping’
Analysis from senior tennis writer Matt Futterman.
That was one seriously expensive fake serve.
Frances Tiafoe earned $2.7 million in prize money this year on the ATP Tour. He’s going to have to give back about five percent of that after his verbal tirade against chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote in Shanghai last month.
This is the equivalent of the ATP Tour throwing the book at Tiafoe. He got $60,000 for the series of f-bombs he dropped on Pinoargote and $60,000 more for their amounting to “aggravated behavior.” The fake service motion that earned him the time violation, cost him his first serve, and led to him losing the final two points of the deciding set tiebreaker to Safiullin has now cost him a serious chunk of money.
The rulebook allows for all this, though as I have said before, I don’t ever want a chair umpire inserting himself into a deciding set tiebreak that is tied 5-5. Tiafoe and Safiullin had just played a gut-buster of a point.
They’d given everything they had for the best part of three hours. That’s not the moment for sticklers about time violations. It’s a moment for players to be able to decide the match with their best tennis. The rulebook has to allow for a bit of discretion on the part of the umpire to allow the players to catch their breath.
At present, it doesn’t. Moving away from putting the shot-clock in the hands of the umpire is what has created this situation, and that decision has been questioned by other players, including world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz. “It’s crazy,” the then-world No.2 told Sky Sports at the Queen’s tournament in London this summer.
“I have time just to ask for two balls and no bounces. I’ve never seen something like that in tennis.”
Tiafoe had no intention of hitting the ball he tossed. He might have avoided a time violation with some more convincing acting, but he shouldn’t have to that and Pinoargote shouldn’t have to pull him up on it. When he did, Tiafoe should have exhibited more self-control: no-one deserves to be spoken to that way.
But given the fines that the ATP has doled out in the past, that $120,000 still borders on eyepopping.
I’m thinking of Alexander Zverev’s attack on an umpire’s chair at the Mexican Open in Acapulco in 2022. Like Tiafoe, Zverev didn’t like a call during the deciding set tiebreak, this time in a doubles match. Like Tiafoe, he dropped some f-bombs on the umpire.
He also started whaling away on the chair with his racket, nearly striking the umpire’s foot in the process. He sat down, then got up and hit the chair again.
The behavior got him thrown out of the singles tournament. His penalty from the ATP? Zverev received a $40,000 fine and then an additional $25,000 as well as one year’s probation, during which a repeat offense would have resulted in an eight-week ban. A direct comparison of the figures needs some context — an ATP rule change between the two incidents introduced a tiered system of fines according to the ranking points on offer at a tournament. The Mexican Open is an ATP 500; the Shanghai Masters is a 1000, one rung below a Grand Slam.
Still, were Tiafoe’s actions really twice as bad as Zverev’s and worthy of one of the biggest fines in the history of the sport, even taking into account Zverev losing his prize money for being defaulted? Is there any sort of uniformity here?
How about this: Ask yourself which behavior you would rather suffer as an umpire. A profanity-laced tirade, or someone repeatedly coming within inches of smacking you with a tennis racket?
Tiafoe’s behavior was out of line. His penalty also seems out of line with what the tour has doled out in the past.
(Top photo: Quality Sport Images via Getty Images)
