Coco Gauff has weighed in on the comments made by Adolfo Daniel Vallejo at the French Open, who had stirred controversy at the French Open by claiming that a male umpire should have been put in charge of his second-round match against Moïse Kouamé.
Vallejo was widely condemned for his comments and fined half of his prize money at the French Open.
Coco Gauff Weighs In On French Open Controversy Involving Female Umpire
After losing 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (8) to Kouamé in a match that lasted nearly five hours, he claimed that grueling matches with big crowds like that should be “umpired by a man; it’s very difficult for a woman to do it.”
Vallejo attracted significant backlash from the tennis community for his comments about chair umpire Ana Carvalho, and Gauff has now joined the criticism.
“I mean, obviously I am a woman in sports. I think an umpire’s job doesn’t depend on their gender. I was disappointed when I heard that,” Gauff said in an interview with Clay Magazine.
The French Open organizers announced a fine of €65,000 (US$75,000) in the wake of his comments.
Meanwhile, Gauff has been outspoken about a number of issues on the WTA Tour in recent years and is also helping lead the players in their bid to secure a bigger share of the revenue generated by the four Grand Slams.
Gauff and her fellow leading players on the WTA Tour have threatened to boycott the Grand Slams. However, she is pleased with the progress now being made, with Wimbledon announcing a 20% increase in its prize money fund from the previous year.
“I think it’s still a long way. We are grateful about the progress that has been made. But there is a lot more that we can do, not only at Wimbledon but at the other Grand Slams as well,” she added.
The two-time Grand Slam champion was eliminated in the third round of the French Open. She started her grass-court campaign at the Berlin Tennis Open, but suffered a shock 6-1, 3-6, 2-6 loss to Paula Badosa on Wednesday.
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Gauff has never made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon and will be eager to change that this year. She is still searching for her first title of the year and holds a 26-11 win-loss record. The 22-year-old’s best runs came at the Miami Open and the Italian Open, where she made the final.
