American tennis player Frances Tiafoe was penalized for a time error and then lost to Roman Safiullin in the third round of the Shanghai Masters on the evening of October 8.

Unseeded Safiullin defeated 13th seed Tiafoe 5-7; 7-5; 7-6(5) in a three-hour battle. American Frances Tiafoe lost her cool when she was penalized for overtime while serving at 5-5 in the final-set tie-break.

“No, no, I threw the ball up… I was ready to serve. Man, that’s the rule,” Tiafoe said as he stepped up to the net, trying to convince Ecuadorian referee Jimmy Pinoargote.

“I disagree, serve two,” the umpire replied. The argument ended when umpire Pinoargote announced “serve two” over the microphone. Tiafoe continued to lose points and eventually lost the match to Safiullin.

After shaking hands with Safiullin at the net, Tiafoe turned his anger towards the umpire Pinoargote, repeatedly hurling profanities at him as he returned to his seat. Meanwhile, many fans in the stands were still mocking the American player Fances Tiafoe.

The ATP did not immediately comment on the incident, but under the rules, the 26-year-old could be fined up to $60,000 for each violation at Masters 1000 level tournaments.

Tiafoe later apologized on Instagram for his behavior: “That is not who I am and I would never want to treat anyone that way. I let my frustration get the best of me in the heat of the moment and I am extremely disappointed in how I handled the situation. It was unacceptable behavior and I want to apologize to the referee, the league and the fans!”

Frances Tiafoe is currently ranked 17th in the world men’s tennis, he has achieved some success at the end of the season, reaching the finals of the Citi Open and Cincinnati Open, and reaching the semi-finals of the US Open.