PARIS — Adolfo Daniel Vallejo will receive a significant fine for his “sexist remarks” at the French Open after he said his second-round match should not have been umpired by a woman.
Vallejo lost to French teenager Moise Kouame on Thursday after a tense five-set battle that lasted nearly five hours on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
“This sort of match needs to be umpired by a man,” Vallejo told Clay magazine after his 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8) loss. “It’s very difficult for a woman to do it.”
His comments were “unacceptable,” the French Tennis Federation and Roland Garros organizers said on Friday.
“The competence of an umpire is not determined by their gender but by their professionalism and ability to officiate at the highest level,” they added in a statement. “The outcome of a sporting event, whether positive or negative, can never justify or excuse such remarks. The tournament organizers will impose a significant sanction on Adolfo Vallejo in the form of a fine.”
Organizers did not say how much the fine would be, but players reaching the second round at the French Open receive 130,000 euros ($151,000).
Kouame was 5-3 down in the fifth set and 8-7 down in the tiebreaker. The French crowd was boisterous and Vallejo, from Paraguay, said the umpire, Ana Carvalho from Brazil, did not control the spectators.
“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,” he said. “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.”
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.”
Roland Garros organizers said they condemn “all sexist remarks, regardless of who makes them” and offered their support to the match umpire “and, more broadly, to all the tournament’s umpiring officials.”
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AP sports writer Jerome Pugmire contributed.
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