'Needs to be umpired by a man': Female chair umpire comes under fire at Roland Garros
- Christian Montegan
- May 29
- 2 min read
Paraguayan player Daniel Vallejo criticised a female chair umpire, who believed certain matches should be "umpired by a man".
After crawling his way back from two sets down against 17-year-old Frenchman Moïse Kouamé on Court Suzanne Lenglen, the world No.71 fell agonisingly short in a fifth-set super tiebreak in front of a raucous Parisian crowd.
Having held a 5-2 lead in the decider, Vallejo revealed that Brazilian umpire Ana Carvalho was not the right person to control the crowd.
"This sort of match needs to be umpired by a man; it's very difficult for a woman to do it," Vallejo told CLAY following his five-set defeat to Kouamé.
"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," he continued.
"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 and, to be honest, it didn't harm me, but rather strengthened him."
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Another female chair umpire, Frenchwoman Aurélie Tourte, was also criticised for her handling of world No.1 Jannik Sinner's fragile condition.
Four-time major winner Jim Courier labelled Tourte's decision to halt play mid-game to allow the physio to treat Sinner was "unfair" on eventual winner Juan Manuel Cerúndolo.
Click here to read the full breakdown at CLAY.
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