Frances Tiafoe slams officials after another "ridiculous" time violation during win over Great Britain's Cameron Norrie in Vienna; Jack Draper through to second round; Dominic Thiem retires from tennis at home event with straight-sets defeat to Luciano Darderi; Thiem won US Open in 2020
Tuesday 22 October 2024 21:26, UK
Frances Tiafoe fumed at being handed another "ridiculous" time violation as he beat Great Britain's Cameron Norrie in straight sets at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
Fifth seed Tiafoe was sanctioned during the first set in Austria on Tuesday and shouted in the chair umpire's direction after he closed out the set.
The American, who beat Norrie 6-4 7-6 (7-4) to set up a second-round meeting with Matteo Berrettini, picked up a time violation for the fourth match in a row.
Speaking afterwards about his outburst - which was not his first on the court in recent weeks - Tiafoe said he understands he is a role model to youngsters but did not hold back on the officials, demanding an explanation for his regular punishments.
"A lot of my fans are kids. I understand the effect I have and that kids want to be like me," said Tiafoe, a three-time winner on the ATP Tour.
"The passion and joy they play with, they can see themselves in me. I don't take that for granted.
"At the same time, we put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears out here. For me to play four consecutive matches and get four consecutive time violations is insane.
"It needs to be spoken about because then it's loss of points, loss of money, loss of opportunity, fines that come because of reactions.
"I'll deal with it better when they make a change. The more I go on with it, I don't think any change will happen.
"Four violations in four matches is pretty ridiculous to me. I have been on the tour 10 years and that has never happened, so I want to know why."
Dominic Thiem's professional tennis career ended with a first-round defeat to Luciano Darderi in Vienna as the 2020 US Open champion lost 7-6 8-6 (6-2).
Austrian star Thiem, who was also runner-up at the French Open in 2018 and 2019 and Australian Open in 2020, announced earlier this season that he would call time on his career following his home event in October after years blighted by a wrist injury.
Thiem - who claimed 17 ATP Tour titles and registered wins over Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer during his career - was given a standing ovation after his defeat.
Thiem said on court afterwards: "I've had so many nice goodbyes in the last few months, but today I want to say thank you for all the sensational years.
"I am only a part of this career. The whole journey has been an absolute dream and I want this afternoon, this evening to be yours. I couldn't have imagined it any better. Thank you!"
The 31-year-old impressed in patches against Darderi, including with sizzling successive backhand winners in the fourth game of the match, shots that delighted the crowd.
But he was brushed aside in the second set as Darderi secured a clash with Britain's Jack Draper, a 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 winner over veteran Japanese Kei Nishikori later in the day.
Draper was 5-3 and 30-0 down in the first set but rallied to take it in the tie-breaker.
