PARIS – Paraguayan Daniel Vallejo is set to face a ‘significant sanction’ from the Roland Garros tournament after claiming in comments to CLAY that certain matches should not be officiated by women.
“The French Tennis Federation (FFT) and the organisers of the Roland Garros tournament have taken note of Adolfo Daniel Vallejo’s comments about the umpire following his match on 28 May 2026, and consider these comments to be unacceptable.”
“An umpire’s competence is not determined by their gender, but by their professionalism and their ability to officiate at the highest level. The outcome of a sporting event, whether positive or negative, can never justify or excuse such comments,” adds the statement released on Friday afternoon by the FFT.
“The tournament organisers will impose a significant sanction on Adolfo Vallejo in the form of a fine. The Roland-Garros tournament strongly condemns all sexist comments, regardless of who makes them, and offers its support to the match umpire and, more generally, to all the tournament’s umpires.”
Vallejo lost on Thursday in five sets and five hours to French prodigy Moise Kouame, and after her press conference spoke for a few minutes alone with CLAY.
“Matches like this have to be umpired by a man; it’s very difficult for a woman to do it,” said Vallejo after his 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6 and 7-6 (10-8) defeat to Kouame, aged 17 and ranked 317th in the world, in the second round of the tournament.
The 22-year-old Paraguayan, ranked 71st in the world, held a 5-2 lead in the final set and led 7-6 in the super tie-break before his opponent turned it around. He did not reach match point, but came remarkably close to winning a thrilling match at the Suzanne Lenglen Stadium, the second most important venue at the French Open.
The French crowd, which in recent years at Roland Garros has often crossed the line from boisterous to downright aggressive, passionately cheered on Kouame, who interacted with the stands with determination and benefited, thanks to the crowd’s roars, from welcome breaks amidst the heatwave sweeping across Europe.
Does Vallejo really believe that a woman cannot referee this type of match? The player argued that Brazilian Ana Carvalho was not the right person for a match like Thursday’s in Paris.
“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 it,” said the Paraguayan.
“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 was going to be like that and, to be honest, it didn’t harm me, but rather strengthened him.”
In what way? “I think he took up a lot of time on many occasions, lying on the ground or wasting time unnecessarily. And it’s not normal for the crowd to be shouting for a whole minute straight without any play. In a match where the physical aspect matters a great deal, if you give a player a lot of time, he’s obviously going to take advantage of it. The truth is, it’s also difficult for a referee to manage this situation.”
At @_claymagazine, we believe that @danivallejo17 is a great player and that he played a brilliant match against Kouame.
But as he wrote that what he told us in a one-on-one conversation had been taken out of context, we think it’s best to share the recording with you all.… pic.twitter.com/JiqzU8SQ7C
— Clay (@_claymagazine) May 29, 2026
This Friday, after his comments to CLAY went viral on social media, Vallejo claimed he had been ‘taken out of context’.
“I never spoke about women in general; I spoke about the referee specifically, who failed to manage the crowd at any point during the match. That said, I didn’t say I lost because of her either. I congratulated my opponent and it is normal for the crowd to support the home player,” argued the Paraguayan tennis player.
The articles published in Spanish, English and Portuguese on CLAY accurately reflect, in context, what Vallejo said during his interview with this publication. Additionally, CLAY uploaded the audio to its social media channels featuring the specific passage in which the player referred to the issue of female chair umpires.
Hours later, the tennis player apologized through his Instagram account.
“I have respect for the umpire and for the job they do. After a 5 hrs battle, I was very heated and with a lot of emotions. I apologize. I also want to clarify that I didn’t blame the loss on her. She did a good job throughout the whole match. I will learn and get better with this. I also have great respect for Roland Garros, the French Tennis Federation, and everyone involved in tennis”
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