Coco Gauff begins her grass court season at the Berlin Tennis Open. But, while fulfilling her media obligations, the American player shared her opinion on a controversy that began at the recently concluded French Open. Chair umpire Ana Carvalho was subject to a sexist remark from Daniel Vallejo, prompting the tournament to impose a hefty sanction on the ATP player.

“I mean, obviously, I am a woman in sports. I think an umpire’s job doesn’t depend on their gender”, said Gauff while talking about the Daniel Vallejo incident at Roland Garros. “I was disappointed when I heard that.”

Vallejo had come under immense criticism for the remarks he made about Carvalho, the chair umpire who presided over the Praguyan’s match against Moise Kouame in the second round at the French Open. It was a thrilling five-set battle, won by the young French kid with the raucous Suzanne Lenglen crowd firmly behind him.

However, after the match ended, Vallejo questioned Carvalho’s ability to control the rowdy French crowd, implying that she lacked the capacity to do so because she was a woman. This shocked the community, and the French Open reacted quickly. Vallejo was fined 65,000 euros, which is more than half of the prize money that the Paraguayan player had earned at Roland Garros. He later apologized for his comments, but that didn’t change the officials’ minds.

Gauff understandably expressed her disappointment, as it has not been easy for female chair umpires to make a name for themselves in the sport. For decades, women were excluded from officiating high-stakes men’s matches at major tournaments. It was not until 2007 that Sandra de Jenken shattered that glass ceiling, becoming the first female umpire to officiate a men’s singles final at a Grand Slam, doing so at the Australian Open.

Today, it is a common sight. Eva Asderaki-Moore, Alison Hughes, and Marija Čičak all regularly take charge of top matches in men’s tennis. But the bias remains, as evidenced by Vallejo’s comments about Carvalho.

Gauff, meanwhile, will be looking to get her grass-court season off to a strong start as she faces Paula Badosa of Spain in the Round of 16 in Berlin. This ought to be a good warm-up for her ahead of Wimbledon, which remains a major where she has yet to reach the quarterfinals.

Coco Gauff Talks About Succeeding on Grass

Grass has played a huge role in Coco Gauff’s career, with the American making her breakthrough on the surface by defeating Venus Williams at Wimbledon and reaching the fourth round in 2019. However, she has been unable to improve on that result at the All England Club in the years since, even as she has enjoyed success at the other three Majors.

Ahead of her campaign at the Berlin Open, Gauff spoke about how the Williams sisters inspired her to take up the sport. The World No. 7 spoke about how dominant the iconic duo was on grass, and how she grew up watching them winning 12 Wimbledon singles titles between them. With Serena making a comeback, Gauff also expressed her desire to partner up with the GOAT in doubles should the opportunity present itself.

“It feels really cool, I would love to play on the same side as her, shooting my shot, but we’ll see. I don’t know, if she asks, the answer is going to be yes,” Gauff said to Tennis Channel.

This will come as a relief to fans, who criticized the 22-year-old on social media for choosing Jessica Pegula over Williams for the doubles event in Berlin, while Serena partnered with Karolina Muchova.

Gauff will have her task cut out for her at the Berlin Open as she opens her campaign against Badosa, who holds a 4-3 head-to-head advantage over her. Badosa has also beaten her on a big stage before, defeating the American in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open last year. If she advances, Gauff could then face the challenge of Aryna Sabalenka or Elena Rybakina.

The doubles result will give her a lot of confidence, as she and Pegula made a winning start, defeating the duo of Anastasia Potapova and Diana Shnaider in straight sets, 7-6(4), 6-4.