Vallejo fined for sexist remarks about female referee at French Open

Paraguayan player Adolfo Daniel Vallejo will be fined after he suggested women lack the courage to umpire rowdy crowds following his marathon five-hour defeat by a French teenager, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) said on Friday.

Vallejo blamed Brazilian referee Ana Carvalho for failing to control the home crowd during his second-round loss to France’s Moise Kouame, who triumphed 6-3 7-5 3-6 2-6 7-6 (10-8) at a packed Court Suzanne Lenglen.

“I think this sort of matches should be umpired by a man,” Vallejo told Clay magazine.

“It’s very difficult for a woman to do it because the crowd is very annoying. You need to have a lot of courage to go against the crowd.”

Vallejo added that Kouame “took up a lot of time on many occasions, lying on the floor or stalling”.

“And it’s not normal for the crowd to be shouting for a full minute without any play. In a match where the physical aspect matters so much, if you give a player a lot of time he’s obviously going to take advantage of it. The truth is it’s also difficult for a referee to manage this situation.”

The 17-year-old Kouame was roared on by passionate home supporters during the thriller that lasted four hours and 56 minutes, but Vallejo insisted the atmosphere only helped his opponent.

“I knew it was going to be like that. It didn’t harm me, it only strengthened him,” he said, adding that a male umpire would have “absolutely” made a difference against the “disrespectful” crowd.

The FFT swiftly condemned the comments as “unacceptable” and announced the fine.

“The competence of an umpire is not determined by their gender, but by their professionalism and ability to officiate at the highest level,” the FFT said in a statement.

“The outcome of a sporting event, whether positive or negative, can never justify or excuse such remarks. The tournament organisers will impose a significant sanction on Adolfo Vallejo in the form of a fine.

“The Roland Garros tournament strongly condemns all sexist remarks, regardless of who makes them, and offers its support to the match umpire and, more broadly, to all the tournament’s umpiring officials.”

Vallejo attempted damage control on social media, claiming his comments were taken out of context.

“I never spoke about women in general, I was referring specifically to the referee, who failed to manage the crowd at any point during the match,” he posted on X.

“That said, I didn’t say I lost because of her either. I congratulated the opponent and it’s only natural for the crowd to support the home player.”