The umpires cause a stir at the Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai. Frances Tiafoe is penalized twice and then completely loses his nerve, Stan Wawrinka misses a point.
09.10.2024, 08:18
SDA
The US American Frances Tiafoe loses 7:5, 5:7 and 6:7 to Roman Safiullin in the third round of the Shanghai Masters, after which the world number 17 completely loses his temper and insults the umpire: "F... you, F... you. Really, F... you, you idiot. You destroyed my game. Do your fucking job. I've been running and fighting for my life here for three hours!"
What had happened? The 26-year-old received two "time violations" from Jimmy Pinoargote. According to the umpire, Tiafoe took too much time on his serve both times and lost the first service.
Penalty no. 1 ...
... and penalty no. 2
After the angry outburst on the court, Tiafoe later apologized on Instagram: "In the heat of the moment, the frustration got the better of me. I'm extremely disappointed with how I handled the situation. My behavior was unacceptable. I would like to apologize to the umpire, the tournament and the fans".
Whether this will be enough to stop the ATP from imposing a hefty fine on him remains to be seen.
Wawrinka deprived of an important point
At the same venue, Stan Wawrinka failed to win two matches in a row for the first time this year. In Shanghai, the Frenchman lost to Flavio Cobolli 7:6, 6:7, 3:6 in the second round.
Wawrinka fended off two set points in the first round and the only three break chances of the first two sets in the second at 5:5 and 0:40. After losing the tie-break, however, he gave up his serve for the first time at 0:2; it remained the only break of the match until the end.
Particularly bitter for Wawrinka: In the ultimately decisive game, in which he lost his service, the umpire Carlos Bernardes made a serious mistake. Although the Swiss had won the first point, he counted 0:30 as the score - and none of those on the court noticed.
This is one of the reasons why the 39-year-old from Vaud remains on a record of just six wins at ATP level this year. Nick Kyrgios had little sympathy for the Brazilian umpire's mistake, ranting on X: "Bernardes should have been dismissed years ago. How can this happen? Potato."
