Adolfo Daniel Vallejo will receive a significant fine for his “sexist remarks” at the French Open after he said his second-round match should not have been umpired by a woman.

Vallejo lost to French teenager Moise Kouame on Thursday after a tense five-set battle that lasted nearly five hours on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

“This sort of match needs to be umpired by a man,” Vallejo told Clay magazine after his 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8) loss. 

“It’s very difficult for a woman to do it.”

Vallejo’s comments were “unacceptable,” the French Tennis Federation and Roland-Garros organisers said in response.

“The competence of an umpire is not determined by their gender but by their professionalism and ability to officiate at the highest level,” they added in a statement. 

“The outcome of a sporting event, whether positive or negative, can never justify or excuse such remarks. The tournament organisers will impose a significant sanction on Adolfo Vallejo in the form of a fine.”

Organisers did not say how much the fine would be, but players reaching the second round at the French Open receive 130,000 euros ($AU210,800) in prize money.

Kouame was 5-3 down in the fifth set and 8-7 down in the tiebreaker. The French crowd was boisterous and Vallejo, from Paraguay, said the umpire, Carvalho from Brazil, did not control the spectators.

“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 said. 

“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.”

Vallejo added that Kouame “took up a lot of time on many occasions, lying on the floor or stalling”.

“And it’s 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’s obviously going to take advantage of it. The truth is it’s also difficult for a referee to manage this situation.”

Roland-Garros organisers said they condemn “all sexist remarks, regardless of who makes them” and offered their support to the match umpire “and, more broadly, to all the tournament’s umpiring officials”.

Jodar denies pushing ball girl

Spanish player Rafael Jodar said he did not push a ball girl out of his way during his third-round win against American Alex Michelsen at the French Open on Friday.

Footage of the incident, which came between sets, appeared on social media but seemed inconclusive. Jodar had just thrown a bottle of water into his box with his left hand when a ball girl suddenly walked across his path.

“I didn’t touch her,” he said. “No, no, no. I could never do that.”

She lost her footing momentarily before regaining her balance. It was unclear if there was any contact as Jodar also appeared to be gesturing to the person in the box — who he said was his father — with his left hand at the same time as he passed by the girl.

“I didn’t push her or anything. I was telling my dad to give me the things that he was going to give me after a toilet break when I was coming back,” Jodar explained after the match. 

“She was in the middle, so I think she was trying to get out of the way. She was going backwards, but I think she, like, fell, but not because I push[ed] her.”

Jodar said the ball girl got her feet tangled in the court cover.

“It was right behind her. So when she was walking backwards, she fell with that,” he said. 

“I appreciate all the work that the ball kids are doing. I know it’s difficult with the heat and the conditions to stay there, so I appreciate. I could never, you know, push a ball kid.”

The 27th-seeded Jodar won 7-6 (2), 6-7 (5), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to make the fourth round at a major for the first time.

Coach who quit during French Open via text responds

The coach who suddenly left Alejandro Davidovich Fokina during the French Open says he did so only after the player urged him to go.

Davidovich Fokina told reporters that Mariano Puerta left for Miami after the Spaniard’s first-round victory at Roland Garros, and he expressed regret about hiring him.

Puerta, a former Roland-Garros runner-up, responded in an interview with puntodebreak.com published on Friday that he had been frustrated with Davidovich Fokina’s emotional outbursts, but that he expected they would clear the air.

Instead, the Argentine said “a person from his team calls me: ‘Alex asks you to take care of your plane ticket, find it yourself and pay for it. You can go to Miami.’”

Puerta said he had also been feeling unwell during Davidovich Fokina’s first-round win. The 23rd-ranked Davidovich Fokina lost his second-round match to Thiago Agustín Tirante 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-3 on Wednesday.

Puerta has been a controversial figure in tennis. As a player, the Argentine served bans in two separate doping cases. He retired as a player in 2009.

AP