PARIS (AP) 鈥� Adolfo Daniel Vallejo was fined $65,000 at the French Open after he said his second-round match should not have been , organizers announced on Monday.
Vallejo lost to French teenager Moise Kouame last week after a tense five-set battle that lasted nearly five hours. He later told the tennis website Clay that “this sort of match needs to be umpired by a man.鈥�
Following his 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8) loss, Vallejo added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult for a woman to do it.鈥�
Players reaching the second round at the French Open receive 130,000 euros ($151,000). Roland Garros director Amelie Mauresmo told reporters at the French Open that 鈥渁 65,000 euros鈥� fine was handed down to the player, 鈥渞epresenting roughly half of his prize money.鈥� Organizers later clarified that the fine was in dollars, not euros.
鈥淭his is clearly unacceptable,鈥� Mauresmo said. 鈥淥nce again, such remarks have no place here.鈥�
Vallejo, from Paraguay, said the umpire, Ana Carvalho from Brazil, did not control the spectators.
鈥淚t has to be refereed by a man, because it鈥檚 a very demanding crowd and you need a lot of strength to go against the crowd,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he crowd was very out of line, but I understand they鈥檙e supporting their compatriot. It鈥檚 quite an intense crowd and that鈥檚 why I was prepared; I already knew it would be like that and, to be honest, it didn鈥檛 harm me, but rather strengthened him.鈥�
Vallejo added that Kouame 鈥渢ook up a lot of time on many occasions, lying on the floor or stalling.鈥�
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not normal for the crowd to be shouting for a full minute without any play. In a match where the physical aspect matters so much, if you give a player a lot of time he鈥檚 obviously going to take advantage of it. The truth is it鈥檚 also difficult for a referee to manage this situation.鈥�
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