Paraguayan blames Brazilian referee Ana Carvalho for failing to manage the house crowd throughout his second-round loss.
Printed On 30 Might 2026
Paraguayan participant Adolfo Daniel Vallejo will probably be fined after he instructed girls lack the braveness to umpire rowdy crowds following his marathon five-hour defeat by a French teenager, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) mentioned on Friday.
Vallejo blamed Brazilian referee Ana Carvalho for failing to manage the house crowd throughout 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 docket Suzanne Lenglen.
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“I believe this type of matches must be umpired by a person,” Vallejo informed Clay journal.
“It’s very tough for a girl to do it as a result of the gang may be very annoying. You might want to have loads of braveness to go in opposition to the gang.”
Vallejo added that Kouame “took up loads of time on many events, mendacity on the ground or stalling”.
“And it’s not regular for the gang to be shouting for a full minute with none play. In a match the place the bodily facet issues a lot, when you give a participant loads of time he’s clearly going to reap the benefits of it. The reality is it’s additionally tough for a referee to handle this case.”
The 17-year-old Kouame was roared on by passionate dwelling supporters through the thriller that lasted 4 hours and 56 minutes, however Vallejo insisted the ambiance solely helped his opponent.
“I knew it was going to be like that. It didn’t hurt me, it solely strengthened him,” he mentioned, including {that a} male umpire would have “completely” made a distinction in opposition to the “disrespectful” crowd.
The FFT swiftly condemned the feedback as “unacceptable” and introduced the superb.
“The competence of an umpire is just not decided by their gender, however by their professionalism and skill to officiate on the highest stage,” the FFT mentioned in a press release.
“The result of a sporting occasion, whether or not optimistic or detrimental, can by no means justify or excuse such remarks. The match organisers will impose a major sanction on Adolfo Vallejo within the type of a superb.
“The Roland Garros match strongly condemns all sexist remarks, no matter who makes them, and provides its help to the match umpire and, extra broadly, to all of the match’s umpiring officers.”
Vallejo tried injury management on social media, claiming his feedback have been taken out of context.
“I by no means spoke about girls normally, I used to be referring particularly to the referee, who didn’t handle the gang at any level through the match,” he posted on X.
“That mentioned, I didn’t say I misplaced due to her both. I congratulated the opponent and it’s solely pure for the gang to help the house participant.”
