A player at the French Open has caused controversy by claiming that a woman shouldn’t have officiated his match.
In the second round on Thursday, Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay faced Moise Kouame, a teenage French competitor, in what ended up being one of the tournament’s best bouts to yet.
With the support of his local crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen, 17-year-old Kouame won 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (10-8) after four hours and fifty-six minutes.
Vallejo claimed that Brazilian Ana Carvalho, an experienced official, lacked the strength to manage the crowd and expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of time Kouame was permitted to take between points.
Vallejo stated in an interview with Clay magazine: “This kind of match needs to be umpired by a man; it’s very difficult for a woman to do it.”
The comments were made by Adolfo Daniel Vallejo following his second-round loss in Paris on Thursday.
“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 said, accusing umpire Ana Carvalho of lacking the strength to control the throng supporting home favorite Moise Kouame.
A clock on the scoreboard counts down the 25 seconds that players are permitted to take between points, but umpires are free to decide when to begin the countdown if there is a lot of crowd commotion.
“”I understand they are supporting their compatriot, but the crowd was very out of line,” Vallejo continued.
I was ready because the throng is extremely overwhelming. I already knew it would be that way, and to be honest, it empowered him more than hurt me. I believe he spent a lot of time lying on the ground or stalling. “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.” It’s also abnormal for the fans to be yelling for a full minute without any play.
Daily Mail Sport reached out to the tournament organizers for comment.
