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| Safin
Wins at Australian Open |
The Associated Press, Sat 19 Jan 2002
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) пїЅ Marat Safin was in control at
the Australian Open on Saturday пїЅ in control of his match
and of his infamous temper.
And then, when he was two sets and a break up against fellow
Russian Mikhail Youzhny, something happened.
Safin tapped a ball behind him, and it hit a line judge.
The 2000 U.S. Open champion was given an immediate warning
for a code violation from chair umpire Norm Chryst.
That led to a loud debate between player and official.
Safin demanded an explanation and asked for the Grand Slam
supervisor to intervene before returning to the baseline and
apologizing to the line judge.
Safin eventually finished off his 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over
Youzhny to set up a fourth-round match against Pete Sampras,
and then he continued to complain bitterly afterward.
Safin accused Chryst of interfering in the match and of showing
him no respect by not removing his sunglasses during their
argument.
He said the chair umpire should enforce the rules in a reasonable
manner and not take a hard line when there are obvious mistakes.
``Nobody expects these kind of things from the chair umpire,''
Safin said. ``But I think, you know, he likes to be involved
in the match. It's okay. He can play tennis also, after the
tournament.''
Safin, who's developed a reputation for smashing rackets
and yelling at himself during matches, faces disciplinary
action for a series of code violations. The tournament referee
declined to comment.
Asked about his heated discussion with Chryst, Safin said
he was ``talking to him nicely, and he's talking to me like,
you know, `I'm the king of the court and I can do whatever
I want'.''
Safin said he's had trouble with Chryst in the past.
``We were playing great tennis and the guy just, he wants
to show off,'' Safin said. ``I don't know what is his problem.
The guy almost destroyed our game.''
At last year's Australian Open, Safin smashed a racket after
his fourth-round loss to Dominik Hrbaty. In 2000, Safin was
fined $2,000 here for not making an effort during a loss to
South African qualifier Grant Stafford.
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