Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo was fined $65,000 at the French Open for saying his loss last week should not have been umpired by a woman, organizers confirmed on Monday.
Vallejo led 5-2 in the fifth set last Thursday before 17-year-old French teenager Moise Kouame rallied for a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8) second-round victory in front of a boisterous home crowd at Roland Garros.
Vallejo, 22, later complained to the tennis publication Clay that “this sort of match needs to be umpired by a man.” He took issue with umpire Ana Carvalho, claiming she failed to control the spectators and allowed Kouame to take too much time between points.
“It’s very difficult for a woman to do it,” Vallejo said. “It has to be refereed by a man, because it’s a very demanding crowd and you need a lot of strength to go against the crowd.
“The crowd was very out of line, but I understand they’re supporting their compatriot. It’s quite an intense crowd and that’s why I was prepared; I already knew it would be like that and, to be honest, it didn’t harm me, but rather strengthened him.”
Players who lost in the second round last week in Paris received $151,000, leaving Vallejo with $86,000 after the fine.
“This is clearly unacceptable,” Roland Garros director Amelie Mauresmo said. “Once again, such remarks have no place here.”
Vallejo, who is ranked 71st in the world, later posted in Spanish on X that his words had been misconstrued.
“I never spoke about women in general, I spoke about the referee specifically, who didn’t handle the crowd at any point during the match,” he wrote. “That said, I also didn’t say that I lost because of her. I congratulated the opponent and it’s normal for the crowd to cheer for the home player.”
–Field Level Media
