A tennis player from Paraguay will face monetary penalties after making controversial statements about women’s ability to handle unruly spectators during tennis matches, tournament officials announced Friday.
Adolfo Daniel Vallejo made the disputed comments following his grueling five-hour second-round defeat to French teenager Moise Kouame at the French Open. The match ended 6-3 7-5 3-6 2-6 7-6 (10-8) on the packed Court Suzanne Lenglen, with Vallejo criticizing Brazilian referee Ana Carvalho’s handling of the enthusiastic home crowd.
Speaking to Clay magazine, Vallejo stated his belief that men should officiate such intense matches.
“I think this sort of matches should be umpired by a man,” Vallejo said. “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.”
The 17-year-old Kouame received vocal support from French fans throughout the nearly five-hour contest. Vallejo acknowledged the crowd’s impact favored his opponent but maintained his position about officiating.
“I knew it was going to be like that. It didn’t harm me, it only strengthened him,” he explained, insisting that male officiating would have “absolutely” handled the “disrespectful” spectators differently.
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) quickly denounced Vallejo’s statements and announced the financial penalty.
“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 declared in their response.
“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,” the organization added.
Following the backlash, Vallejo took to social media platform X to clarify his position, claiming his words were misinterpreted.
“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 wrote in his defense.
“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,” Vallejo concluded in his social media statement.
