Adolfo Daniel Vallejo learned an expensive lesson about post-match remarks. The Paraguay tennis star was fined by the French Open after his comments about the female chair umpire in his match drew criticism for sexism.
Following his second-round loss to 17-year-old French breakout Moise Kouame on May 28, the 22-year-old said: "This sort of match needs to be umpired by a man. It's very difficult for a woman to do it. 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."
Vallejo framed his comments around the French crowd's support for hometown player Kouame during the nearly five-hour match. He said the umpire failed to manage the chaos and allowed excessive time-stalling tactics. The French Tennis Federation and Roland-Garros organizers rejected this explanation.
"The competence of an umpire is not determined by their gender, but by their professionalism and ability to officiate at the highest level," the organizations said in a statement. "The outcome of a sporting event, whether positive or negative, can never justify or excuse such remarks."
The tournament announced a "significant sanction" would be imposed on Vallejo. "The Roland-Garros tournament strongly condemns all sexist remarks, regardless of who makes them," officials added.
Vallejo posted a since-deleted statement on X claiming his words were being "misinterpreted." "I never spoke about women in general," he wrote, per ESPN. "I spoke about the referee specifically."
