French Open tennis player hit with $76k fine for making sexist comment about umpire originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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22-year-old Paraguayan tennis player Adolfo Daniel Vallejo bowed out of his first French Open in the second round, losing a grueling match to French teenager Moise Kouame, but it was still supposed to be a step forward for his career after making his grand slam debut earlier in 2026.
Instead, Vallejo gained more attention for his comments after the match. Among those who paid close attention to his comments were French Open officials, who fined Vallejo for sexist remarks.
The comments cost Vallejo half of his prize money from his French Open debut.
Here’s a look at Vallejo’s comments and the size of his fine.
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French Open fines Adolfo Daniel Vallejo for sexist comment
Vallejo was fined 65,000 euros, or about $76,000, for sexist comments about an umpire he made while speaking with tennis site Clay after losing to Kouame in five sets.
The match came right down to the wire, with the 17-year-old Kouame taking a tense final set. Vallejo insinuated after the match that female umpire Ana Carvalho’s calls were influenced by the crowd, which was heavily in support of the French teenager.
After Vallejo made the remarks, French Open director Amelie Mauresmo announced a fine of roughly half the 22-year-old’s winnings from the tournament. “This is clearly unacceptable,” Mauresmo said. “Once again, such remarks have no place here.”
Here’s a look at Vallejo’s exact words that ruffled some feathers.
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What did Adolfo Daniel Vallejo say about female tennis umpire?
Vallejo told tennis site Clay that “this sort of match needs to be umpired by a man” after he lost in five sets to the 17-year-old Kouame.
“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. “The crowd was very out of line, but I understand they’re supporting their compatriot.”
Vallejo called the crowd “intense” and added, “the truth is it’s also difficult for a referee to manage this situation,” but his message that only a man would be able to make objective calls in a pro-Kouame environment was blunt and drew immediate criticism.