'You're not hard, bro' - Watch drama as Frances Tiafoe, opponent and umpire in extraordinary row during fiery French Open match

React to this story

Frances Tiafoe said Jaime Faria "thought he was Ryan Garcia" following an explosive on-court argument at the French Open which led chair umpire Marijana Veljovic to say "all of this has to stop".

'Stop it!' - Watch extraordinary row between players and umpire with 'tempers frayed'

Video credit: TNT Sports

The thrilling back-and-forth encounter saw Tiafoe come from two sets and a break behind against Faria to secure a stunning victory, in a marathon clash which ticked beyond midnight local time.

And all the emotions that tend to come with such a topsy-turvy match came to a head in the fifth set, as Tiafoe and Faria became embroiled in a tense argument over a line call made by Veljovic.

In the fourth game of the fifth set, with neither player having broken, Faria thundered a serve down the T which Tiafoe could only just about get a racquet to on the stretch, unable to push it over the net. He immediately felt the serve had landed out, prompting Veljovic to leave her chair.

Roland-Garros Men's Singles -

Zverev explains how cramps helped power him to French Open win after 'unstable' fourth set

07/06/2026 at 23:23

"In my opinion, it's touching [the line]," Veljovic said, her decision later proven correct by Hawkeye technology.

Tiafoe briefly remonstrated but returned to the baseline, before Faria then came to the net, shouting towards his opponent and appearing to prompt him to come forward and thrash out their differences.

The American, though, was not interested.

"Why don't you quit trying to act like you're tough?" Tiafoe questioned. "You're not hard, bro, just play."

'Why not me?' - Tiafoe aiming to make most of Sinner's shock exit

Video credit: TNT Sports

Tiafoe and Faria then engaged in a tense, and largely inaudible squabble, before Veljovic said: "This has to stop. Honestly, all of this has to stop."

The altercation only appeared to fire Tiafoe up further, and he managed to complete his astounding comeback with back-to-back breaks in order to reach the fourth round and second week at Roland-Garros.

Speaking to compatriot Sloane Stephens for TNT Sports US, Tiafoe said the exchange with his opponent helped him come through the latter stages, and that Faria "thought he was Ryan Garcia", the reigning WBC welterweight world champion.

"I felt like I needed that too," Tiafoe said of the argument. "I was up at the time but was a little nervous.

"He was definitely giving me a lot of lip, thought he was Ryan Garcia or something. So just had to let him know chill out, bro, enjoy being in Paris and play.

"It was a little back-and-forth, nothing serious, but it went in my favour."

Garcia acknowledged the incident by re-posting the quotes from Tiafoe's on-court altercation and subsequent interview on his Instagram story.

Tiafoe moved onto a fourth-round clash against Matteo Arnaldi after playing 14 sets in his opening three matches. But he insisted he was not feeling any ill-effects.

"I feel great," Tiafoe said. "Even if I were to tell you I felt tired it doesn’t matter, nobody cares.

"It feels good to get through that. It wasn’t looking good there for a lot of the match and these ones are big, give myself another chance to stay in the event. Couldn’t be happier."

On keeping his composure when needing a break in the third set to stay in the match, Tiafoe said: "When I got out the chair I was thinking by all means you need a break in this game.

"I don’t know what you’ve got to do, pick up serve, can’t miss any balls, by all means you’ve got to break. I feel like I played a really tough game there and I felt the momentum."

- - -

Add TNT Sports as a preferred source here to enjoy more content like this.

TNT Sports is the exclusive French Open broadcaster in the UK and Ireland. Coverage of every court will be available to watch live on HBO Max.

Roland-Garros Men's Singles -