Spitting lands Santoro A$1500 fine
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France's Fabrice Santoro angry at linesman's calls in his defeat against Mark Philippoussis.
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MELBOURNE, Australia (Reuters) -- Frenchman Fabrice Santoro has been fined A$1,500 after spitting in the direction of a line judge.
It was one of two incidents in which senior players vented their anger over contentious line calls at the Australian Open.
Santoro was fined $1,500 on Friday, a fraction of the maximum available fine of $10,000.
The fine was for unsportsmanlike conduct and enforced by the International Tennis Federation after his center court match against big-serving Australian Mark Philippoussis.
Santoro and Karol Kucera of Slovakia, two of the most experienced players at the Australian Open, were both upset by calls made by local line judges during second-round losses to Australian opponents on Thursday.
Frustration at Philippoussis's power game got the better of Santoro, a 16-year veteran who turned and spat over his shoulder in the direction of a line judge after disputing a call with chair umpire Andreas Egli in the fourth set.
He was clearly seen spitting towards the line judge after a foot-fault was called.
Philippoussis won an entertaining match 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-2.
Kucera accused line judges of helping 15th seed Lleyton Hewitt during their center court match, which former world No .1 Hewitt won 1-6 6-1 6-4 6-1.
Kucera, who has been on the men's tour since 1990, claimed there had been six doubtful calls during his match and later said he had questioned chair umpire Norm Chryst after three of them.
"Even the lines-people helped him," Kucera told reporters after his loss to Hewitt. "I think it was a little bit on purpose."
On court, James Blake rushed into the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 win over Frenchman Olivier Patience on Friday in 75 minutes.
The 23-year-old Blake was a little impatient serving for the match, clubbing a forehand into the net and dropping serve after wasting two match points in the sixth game of the third set.
Otherwise, he was on his game, hitting 41 winners against 12 for Patience and winning 25 of the 30 times he went to the net. He gave Patience only one breakpoint chance.
Blake was one of six American men in action Friday, with a maximum five capable of reaching the fourth round.
Wimbledon champion Roger Federer eliminated U.S. qualifier Jeff Morrison 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, while French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero ignored pain in his left wrist and beat Filippo Volandri 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-5, joining Roddick and Agassi in the third round.
Henin-Hardenne passes test
Justine Henin-Hardenne was delighted to have survived her first real test after she overcame tenacious Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 7-5 in the women's third round on Friday.
The world number one was given a torrid workout, fighting back twice from service breaks down, before she finally wore down Kuznetsova in 77 minutes.
"It was a good fight. It's the kind of match that I like to play very early in the tournament," said the French and U.S. Open champion, who dropped just five games in her previous two matches.
Venus Williams made 23 unforced errors during a 6-4, 6-2 second-round win over 17-year-old Vera Douchevina of Russia, but wasn't concerned.
"I had a few more errors than what I wanted to, but really the whole goal was just to keep hitting out," Williams said. "I felt that I could have pulled back, of course, and cut my errors in half. But I really wanted to go after her."
The four-time Grand Slam champion put some extra zing on her groundstrokes, and some missed the lines by a fraction.
Second-ranked Kim Clijsters didn't hold anything back in a 6-0, 6-0 win over Maria Elena Camerin.
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
