PARIS (AP) — Adolfo Daniel Vallejo was fined half his French Open prize money after he said his second-round match should not have been umpired by a woman, the tournament director 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.”
Following his 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8) loss, Vallejo added: “It’s very difficult for a woman to do it.”
Roland Garros director Amelie Mauresmo told reporters at the French Open that a 65,000 euros ($76,000) fine was handed down to the player, “representing roughly half of his prize money.”
“This is clearly unacceptable,” Mauresmo said. “Once again, such remarks have no place here.”
Players reaching the second round at the French Open receive 130,000 euros.
Vallejo, from Paraguay, said the umpire, Ana 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.”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Adolfo Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay returns to Moise Kouame of France during their second round men's singles tennis match at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's government will amend the constitution to remove the country’s president, part of a push by the new Prime Minister Péter Magyar to eliminate officials appointed under former populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Magyar and his Tizsa party won an overwhelming victory in an election in April. With a two-thirds majority in parliament, they can make sweeping changes to the autocratic political system Orbán built over his 16 years in power.
Since his election victory, Magyar has repeatedly called on President Tamás Sulyok, appointed by Orbán's party, to resign or be removed by constitutional means. Magyar had given Sulyok, whom he repeatedly referred to as “Orbán's puppet,” a May 31 deadline to leave office.
While mostly a ceremonial role, Hungary’s president is responsible for signing legislation into law and has the power to send bills passed by parliament to the constitutional court for review, raising concerns among supporters of the new government that he could use that power to obstruct its plans.
Magyar held talks with Sulyok at the presidential Sándor Palace on Monday morning. Later, at a news conference, Magyar said the president had refused to resign. He added that he would instruct lawmakers from his party to immediately begin the “necessary procedures” to remove the president, a process he said would take around a month.
“Hungary does not belong to Tamás Sulyok, nor to Viktor Orbán. It doesn't belong to a single party or political system," Magyar said. “The constitution states quite clearly that the president showcases the unity of the nation and guards the democratic functioning of the state.”
The prime minister did not give specifics on what kind of constitutional change would be used to remove Sulyok.
Magyar also accused Sulyok of failing to perform his duty on a number of issues, including failing to speak out when Orbán made dehumanizing statements about his political opponents and critics, or when the previous government passed legislation banning the LGBTQ+ Pride event.
“It is in Hungary’s interest that this institution — the office of the president — regain the prestige that has been eroded by its silence and inaction,” Magyar said.
On Friday, Sulyok's office released a statement that said Magyar's calls for the president to resign “adversely affect both the constitutional functioning and the authority of the institution of the President of the Republic.”
The statement added that Sulyok had requested a legal assessment of the conflict from the Venice Commission, a group of legal experts with Europe’s top human rights group, part of the Council of Europe.
Hungary's Prime Minister Peter Magyar addresses the media at EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
