Adolfo Daniel Vallejo has provoked outrage by claiming his French Open match “needed to be umpired by a man” with sufficient “strength” to go against the Roland Garros crowd.
Vallejo was facing French teenager Moise Kouame in the second round on Thursday in what turned out to be one of the matches of the tournament so far.
Kouame, 17, was roared on by his home fans on Court Suzanne Lenglen, eventually winning 6-3 7-5 3-6 2-6 7-6 (10-8) after four hours and 56 minutes.
Vallejo was unhappy with the time Kouame was allowed to take between points and argued Brazilian Ana Carvalho, an experienced official, was not strong enough to control the crowd.
Adolfo Daniel Vallejo has provoked outrage by saying the female umpire needed ‘more strength’ to go against the crowd
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Jannik Sinner reflected on his shock exit from the French Open, stating that he needs to take some time out to recover.
Speaking to Clay magazine, Vallejo 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.”
Moise Kouame is making his Grand Slam debut (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Players are allowed to take 25 seconds between points, with a clock counting down on the scoreboard, but umpires can use discretion as to when to start the countdown if there is a lot of noise from the crowd.
“The crowd was very out of line, but I understand they are supporting their compatriot,” added Vallejo.
“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.
Moise Kouame of France reacts as he plays against Paraguay’s Vallejo
“I think he 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.”
Tournament organisers have been contacted for comment.
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