Frances Tiafoe Fined for Berating Umpire Days After Taylor Swift Hang

Just days after rubbing shoulders with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, American tennis star Frances Tiafoe’s bank account took a major hit. 

Tiafoe, 26, was levied with a $120k fine on Thursday, November 15 for his vulgar beratement of a chair umpire at the ATP Shanghai Masters event on October 8. After being hit with a time violation at a crucial moment in his match against Roman Safiullin, Tiafoe unloaded on umpire Jimmy Pinoargote.

“F— you, man! F— you! Seriously, man. F— you!” Tiafoe screamed. “You f—ed me out of the f—ing match! You f—ed the match up! Great f—ing job! F— you! Three f—ing hours I’m f—ing out here battling. Only for my livelihood.”

The Association of Tennis Professionals had the option to suspend Tiafoe, but decided against it. 

The announcement of the fine came just four days after Tiafoe and girlfriend Ayan Broomfield were pictured with Swift, 34, and Kelce, 35, at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium following the Kansas City Chiefs’ dramatic 16-14 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, November 10. 

“Chiefsss,” Broomfield, 27, captioned a picture of the foursome shared via Instagram on Monday, November 11. In the picture, taken by Swift, the pop star can be seen giving duck lips to the camera while Kelce stands behind the group flashing a peace sign. 

Tiafoe and Broomfield were also pictured with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany Mahomes, after the game. 

Hours after his controversial on-court tirade last month, Tiafoe issued a mea culpa on social media. 

“I really apologize for the way I acted,” Tiafoe wrote via his Instagram Story. “That is not who I am and not how I want to treat people. I let my frustration in the heat of the moment get the best of me and I’m extremely disappointed with how I handled the situation.”

He continued, “That’s not acceptable behavior and I want to apologize to the umpire, the tournament and the fans.”

Currently the No. 18 ranked men’s tennis player in the world, Tiafoe made it to the semifinals of the US Open in September, where he lost to fellow American Taylor Fritz in five sets. 

“I felt like my body shut down on me,” Tiafoe said after the match. “I got ahead of myself.”

Tiafoe held a two sets-to-one lead over Fritz in the best-of-five set match, but eventually ran out of steam. He dropped the final and deciding set 6-1, during which Tiafoe struggled to maneuver around the court. 

“Sometimes it’s not meant to be,” he said.