Francis Tiafoe Slammed For Behavior During French Open

It was a long, long night in Paris for world No. 19 tennis star Frances Tiafoe as it took him four hours to dispatch 22-year-old Jaime Faria. The match went so long that he had a little bit of a blow-up at Faria at one point.

After rallying from a two-set deficit, Tiafoe finally took the lead from Faria on the final set. But in the middle of the fourth point on set five, things started getting heated between the two of them.

It was around midnight in Paris when Faria and Tiafoe started shouting at each other across the clay. It got so hectic that the judge had to come off her chair and demand that the two tennis stars go back to their sides and resume play.

But Tiafoe got one last soundbite in on Faria before retreating.

"Why don't you quit trying to act like you're tough? You're not hard bro, just play," he said loud enough for the microphones to pick up.

Tiafoe went on to win the set and the match, advancing to the French Open's fourth round for just the second time in his career.

After the match, Tiafoe said that Faria had been mouthing off at him and he was trying to tell him off.

"He was giving me a little lip. He thought he was Ryan Garcia or something. So I definitely had to let him know just chill out or something," Tiafoe said.

Backlash

Tennis fans were not amused by Tiafoe's actions on the clay at Roland Garros though. Many found his actions off-putting and complained that he's one of their least favorite players due to behavior like that.

"Tiafoe is one of the top five most annoying players on tour, especially considering he's never won anything," one user remarked.

"Disrespectful Americans being disrespectful Americans and umpires being afraid to intervene," another complained.

"I don't like that dude, Tiafoe. Crazy ego, ugh," a third wrote.

Of course, there were plenty of fans who absolutely loved Tiafoe giving Faria a piece of his mind.

"Big fight from the Big Foe! Way to come alive and secure the W from 2 sets down."

"Foe cooked that loser. He was complaining over everything."

"Would love to see Tiafoe win the French."

Tiafoe will now face Matteo Arnaldi in the fourth round.

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This story was originally published May 30, 2026 at 4:35 PM.