Adolfo Daniel Vallejo Facing Heat For Comment About French Open Umpire

Adolfo Daniel Vallejo didn't just lose his second-round match at Roland Garros, he lost plenty of support from tennis fans around the world.

French phenom Moise Kouame defeated Vallejo 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8) in a five-set thriller Thursday, much to the delight of the home crowd at Court Suzanne Lenglen. Their match was just four minutes short of hitting the five-hour mark.

Shortly after losing to Kouame in the second round, Vallejo complained that umpire Ana Carvalho did a poor job of managing chaos in the fifth set. He believes Carvalho gave Kouame too much time between points to rest up.

Vallejo also had an issue with the crowd noise on Court Suzanne Lenglen. He claims his match against Kouame needed a man as the umpire.

"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."

Vallejo continued, "The crowd was very out of line, but I understand they are 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."

As you'd imagine, tennis fans voiced their displeasure with Vallejo.

"Besides the misogyny, this is one of the dumbest quotes I've read in a long time," one fan said.

"This is a really tough look for this young man. He let a match slip through his fingers and then blames the ump for being female," a second fan wrote.

"Blaming the female umpire after losing to a 17-year-old? Rough look," another fan commented.

Vallejo will be disciplined for these comments.

Earlier this Friday, Vallejo said his words were taken out of context.

"I never spoke about women in general, I spoke about the referee specifically, who didn't handle the crowd at any point during the match," Vallejo wrote on X in Spanish. "That said, I also didn't say that I lost because of her. I congratulated the opponent and it's normal for the crowd to cheer for the home player."

Nonetheless, it has been confirmed that Vallejo will be fined for his remarks about Carvalho.

"The competence of an umpire is not determined by their gender, but their professionalism and ability to officiate at the highest level," the French Tennis Federation and Roland Garros organizers said. "The outcome of a sporting event, whether positive or negative, can never justify or excuse such remarks."

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 10:43 AM.