The famous umpire Pascal Maria retired from professional tennis. The 44-year-old Nice native will work with the French Tennis Federation, and won't umpire on the ATP, WTA or ITF (Grand Slam, Davis Cup) anymore. Maria, who is one of the umpires who got Gold Badge International, which is the maximum certification, umpired 11 Grand Slam finals, including the memorable one in 2008 Wimbledon won by the Spaniard Rafael Nadal over Roger Federer 9-7 in the fifth set.

The last one was 2017 Roland Garros between Nadal and Wawrinka. He also umpired also at 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and Davis Cup. His career was characterized by great successes and particular moments too: in Wimbledon 2013, during the first round match against Jurgen Melzer, the Italian Fabio Fognini argued with Maria, which cost him a $27.500 fine.