PARIS — Adolfo Daniel Vallejo has been fined $65,000 on the French Open after saying the second-round referee shouldn’t have been a lady, organizers introduced Monday.
Vallejo misplaced to French teenager Moises Kouame final week in a tense five-set battle that lasted almost 5 hours. He later informed tennis web site Clay that “this type of match wants a male referee.”
“It’s extremely tough for ladies,” Vallejo added after dropping 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8).
Gamers who advance to the second spherical of the French Open will obtain 130,000 euros (roughly $151,000). Roland Garros director Amelie Mauresmo informed reporters on the French Open that the participant had been fined 65,000 euros, “roughly half of his prize cash.” Organizers later clarified that the high-quality was paid in {dollars}, not euros.
“That is clearly unacceptable,” Mauresmo mentioned. “Once more, such statements haven’t any place right here.”
Vallejo, who’s from Paraguay, mentioned referee Ana Carvalho, who’s from Brazil, didn’t management the group.
“It needs to be a male referee, as a result of it is a very demanding crowd and it takes a variety of power to go towards the group,” he mentioned. “The group was fairly insane, however I perceive they have been rooting for his or her compatriot. It was a reasonably intense crowd, so I used to be ready. I knew this was going to occur. To be trustworthy, it did not harm me, it really strengthened him.”
Vallejo added that Kouame “spent a variety of time mendacity on the ground and stalling.”
“And it isn’t regular for the group to scream for an entire minute when there is no play. In a really bodily recreation, should you give the gamers a variety of time, clearly they’ll make the most of it. It is also true that it is tough for the referees to handle this example.”
