Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Frances Tiafoe yells a string of curses at a Shanghai Masters chair umpire after a loss

News

Frances Tiafoe yells a string of curses at a Shanghai Masters chair umpire after a loss
News

News

Frances Tiafoe yells a string of curses at a Shanghai Masters chair umpire after a loss

2024-10-09 02:47 Last Updated At:02:51

SHANGHAI (AP) — U.S. Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe cursed repeatedly at a chair umpire after losing a match at the Shanghai Masters on Tuesday.

Tiafoe sent about 10 expletives in the direction of official Jimmy Pinoargote during a minute-long tirade after exiting 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5) against 61st-ranked Roman Safiullin in the third round.

Later, Tiafoe posted an apology on social media, calling his reaction “not acceptable behavior” and writing: “That is not who I am and not how I ever 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.”

The ATP rule book calls for fines of $60,000 at Masters 1000 tournaments for verbal abuse of an official. The tournament can take away prize money, and the case could also be sent to the ATP Member Fines Committee for further investigation.

A tour spokesman said no decision has yet been made on the matter.

The 17th-ranked Tiafoe was angered by being docked his first serve for a time violation at 5-5 in the decisive tiebreaker.

Pinoargote ruled that Tiafoe was not making a genuine attempt to serve when he tossed the ball in the air at the baseline as the serve clock was set to expire. Tiafoe initially protested before continuing to play; he lost that point and the next to close the match.

Tiafoe, a 26-year-old from Maryland, congratulated Safiullin at the net before turning toward the umpire and shouting the first expletives.

Tiafoe passed to the other side of the net toward his chair and said the umpire messed up the match. Peppering his words with more swearing, the American said he had been playing on court for three hours.

Safiullin advanced to face Novak Djokovic.

Tiafoe had a stellar run this summer, reaching the final of the Cincinnati Open, where he lost to No. 1 Jannick Sinner, then reaching the semifinals at the U.S. Open before losing in five sets to fellow American Taylor Fritz.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Frances Tiafoe of the United States returns a shot to Zhou Yi of China during the men's singles second round match in the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Frances Tiafoe of the United States returns a shot to Zhou Yi of China during the men's singles second round match in the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Frances Tiafoe of the United States reacts after defeating Zhou Yi of China in the men's singles second round match in the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Frances Tiafoe of the United States reacts after defeating Zhou Yi of China in the men's singles second round match in the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament at Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center in Shanghai, China, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Former Ohio Health Director Amy Acton, who became a household name in the state in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, is running for governor.

Acton, 58, a physician and public health expert who stood alongside Republican Gov. Mike DeWine for months during his daily coronavirus briefings, said people still stop her in the grocery store or at a restaurant to share their struggles — and she doesn't want to look away.

“I feel like I have a bond with Ohioans and a connection,” she said in an Associated Press interview. “You don’t go through what we’ve been through — trying to save 11.7 million people the way we did — and not have some special connection.”

Acton filed paperwork and launched her campaign Tuesday. She plans to run as a Democrat, which places her at an immediate disadvantage in a state that has turned solidly red in recent years.

While she has said before that serving in DeWine’s cabinet taught her much about how the office operates, on Tuesday she said she believes that Ohio's Republican leaders — who control all three branches of state government — are spending too much time fighting the culture wars and they're taking the state in the wrong direction.

“It’s not OK with me that Ohioans don’t live as long as people do in other states," she said. "It’s not OK with me to watch what used to be a top education system, state-of-the-art education system, begin to fall year after year after year. It’s not OK with me that our GDP is like 45th and our biggest export is Ohioans, is young people.”

Acton's entry into the race comes as Republicans Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and Attorney General Dave Yost already are positioning to run for the seat, which the 78-year-old DeWine must vacate next year due to term limits. But the landscape of the race is far from settled.

DeWine has yet to appoint a replacement to U.S. Sen. JD Vance, who will be inaugurated as Donald Trump's vice president Jan. 20. Though DeWine has long endorsed Husted as his favored successor, the lieutenant governor is now considered a leading contender as his pick for the Senate. That's after Husted and DeWine met with Trump and Vance last month at Mar-a-Lago, a trip first reported by WEWS-TV.

Giving Husted the job would create a political opening for Trump insider Vivek Ramaswamy to possibly make a gubernatorial run against Yost in the 2026 primary. Ramaswamy has said he would not seek the Senate opening — Ohio's third in as many years — right now, because he's busy heading Trump's Department of Government Efficiency effort with Elon Musk. DOGE is not an actual government department, but a private effort.

DeWine plucked Acton from Ohio State University, where she was an associate professor of public health, to lead the Ohio Department of Health in 2019. As the pandemic ramped up in early 2020, she was thrown into the state and national spotlight — becoming a beloved source of comfort to many viewers of the governor's daily news conferences.

For her service as health director, Acton earned the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation’s Profile in COVID Courage Award, the Columbus Foundation’s Spirit of Columbus Award and Ohio State’s highest alumni honor, the Alumni Medalist Award.

But her position as the face of the DeWine administration's aggressive stance against the virus also earned Acton many enemies, among them Statehouse Republicans and average Ohioans who opposed pandemic restrictions.

During the crisis, Acton used the health director's broad emergency powers to halt the state's 2020 presidential primary, to temporarily close gyms and fitness centers around the state, and to impose stay-at-home orders as the administration tried to prevent COVID’s spread. Husted also took part in the administration's COVID response, but not to the extent that Acton did.

After a grueling period of public exposure, angry demonstrations, lawsuits and personal attacks, Acton resigned her state job in June 2020. DeWine sent her off fondly, describing her as a hero in a white coat. She stayed on as his chief health adviser until that August.

She said Tuesday that she recognizes she has not held elective office, but she feels she has the skills necessary to do the job.

“We know that I’m a doctor. I’m not a politician,” she said. “But I am a leader, and I tend to think of myself as more of a public servant and a problem solver.”

After leaving government, Acton joined the Columbus Foundation as a grants director with the title “vice president for Human:Kind.” She left that post after about six months to explore a run for U.S. Senate, ultimately deciding against joining the 2022 contest won by Vance. She later took on a job as director of the city of Columbus' Project L.O.V.E., an initiative aimed at encouraging early vaccinations in children.

Acton said she has spent all that time supporting candidates and causes that she believes in and carefully considering whether to enter politics.

“My challenge to whoever else wants to run in this race is it's time to put something bigger than ourselves at the top here,” she said. “So many of us have values in Ohio that we all hold dear. We have got to put the real problems, the day-to-day problems we all face on the table and put that first.”

FILE - Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton gives an update on the state's preparedness and education efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Cleveland, Ohio, Feb. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

FILE - Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton gives an update on the state's preparedness and education efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Cleveland, Ohio, Feb. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

Recommended Articles
Hot · Posts