Tennis player says female umpire wasn’t strong enough to officiate French Open match

Tennis player Adolfo Daniel Vallejo has said that his French Open loss against 17-year-old Moïse Kouame should have been umpired by a man, as women find working with a demanding crowd “very difficult.”

Vallejo came back from two sets down against the teenager to force a fifth set in their second-round match on Thursday, but he then blew a 5-3 lead in the decider to lose 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(8). It all happened against the raucous backdrop of the Court Suzanne-Lenglen crowd, where fans are especially vocal in their support of French players.

The 22-year-old, who hails from Paraguay, criticized the choice of official, umpire Ana Carvalho, and said she did not control the French prodigy’s “lying on the floor and stalling” in what was his major tournament debut.

“This sort of match needs to be umpired by a man, it’s very difficult for a woman to do it,” Vallejo told Clay magazine. “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.

“The crowd was very out of line, but I understand they’re supporting their compatriot. It’s quite an intense crowd and that’s why I was prepared; I already knew it would be like that.”

Vallejo said his opponent spent too long stalling on the ground (Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP via Getty Images)

Vallejo entered the French Open having reached the round of 32 in the Madrid Open, before in the qualifying round of the Italian Open. He currently sits at 71 in the ATP singles rankings.

The match was Kouame’s longest in senior tennis, four hours and 56 minutes, and in front of the biggest crowd he had played against, with 10,000 watching.

He will play Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, ranked No. 36, in the third round.