Respected umpire Pascal Maria has retired from duties in the chair. Maria, who has held a ITF gold badge rating since 2000, announced his retirement from the on-court duties in a tweet.
C'est parti pour de nouvelles grandes et belles aventure dans une belle et grande maison @FFTennis ! Sur la chaise le chapitre est terminé… Vivement le nouveau !
— Pascal Maria 🇺🇦 (@PascalMariaOff) November 20, 2017
The Frenchman, 44, will now take up a role with the Federation Francaise de Tennis, his country’s national body.
Since earning his gold badge Maria rapidly earned a strong reputation as a firm but fair umpire who made excellent decisions and managed top players and crowds well. These traits led to him be handed several high-profile appointments.
He umpired the historic Wimbledon final of 2008, when Rafael Nadal dethroned Roger Federer to win his first Wimbledon title. He also umpired the 2012 Australian Open Final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, the longest grand slam final in history. Last year he also umpired the Gold Medal match at the Rio Olympics between Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro.
He umpired eleven Grand Slam finals in total.
