Ahhh here is our other little aussie embarressment-Umpires on...

Ahhh here is our other little aussie embarressment-



Umpires on tour are useless - Hewitt

LLEYTON HEWITT said he could empathise with the Australian cricketers, having felt he was the victim of some "useless" umpiring in his tight loss to compatriot Chris Guccione yesterday.

After the match, the outspoken former world No.1 declared the standard of umpiring on the ATP tour was "pretty ordinary".

"I feel like the cricketers, I think," Hewitt said, after a few borderline decisions went against him. "What's going on with all the refs these days? They're useless."

The two-time grand slam winner said he had been the better player in the 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) loss to the 125th-ranked Guccione at the Sydney International. However, Guccione's serve didn't fail him as he slammed down 23 aces.

The Victorian ranked the win as one of his best. Hewitt, however, fumed.

"Unlucky is about the only word I can come up with at the moment," said Hewitt, who launched a tirade at American chair umpire Steve Ullrich in the deciding tie-breaker. "I felt like I was the better player the whole match and I think the stats showed that.

"The first set I had three break points, and the second set I had one break point and could have easily been a 'four-and-four' there. That's probably the most frustrating thing. I felt like my serve came together well today.

"You've got to take your hat off to him, though. In the big points he served well, especially in the first set. Just those half-chances, I had to take them."

Hewitt was livid after the sixth point in the second-set tie-breaker. He felt that Guccione didn't get to the ball in time and that it had bounced a second time, and was furious that Ullrich did not see it as he did.

After the match, Hewitt reiterated that he thought the call on the point, which put Guccione up 4-2, was dubious. Guccione went on to hold four break points for the match in the final tie-breaker.

"There's no way the ball can bounce that way if you've got under that," Hewitt said. "But with that said, I had four break points in the match and I didn't face a break point in the whole match. I wasn't lucky today. I'm just hoping that it all comes together next week."

Guccione felt he got to the ball in time. "Yeah, I thought I got it," he said. "Hit the frame and it just went over. I wasn't aware that he was arguing about that."

Hewitt believes that some chair umpires' confidence has waned since the introduction of Hawk-Eye technology, and that players are suffering at small tournaments because of this.

"There's got to be some kind of standards, I think," he said. "I think central umpires have probably gone into their shell, more so since Hawk-Eye has come in, which, OK, that's fine in major tournaments.

"But at the smaller tournaments where you don't have Hawk-Eye, you have to stand up and make decisions. So, you know, it's obviously tough for them because one week they've got Hawk-Eye and the next week they don't."

It was Hewitt's first loss to an Australian since 2000, when he went down to Pat Rafter at a tournament in Cincinnati.

Guccione, who was recently berated by tennis great John Newcombe for his fitness levels, said the win showed his form was up to scratch.

"I don't have to prove myself to them," Guccione said. "I know how hard I work and how hard I work in the off season. I guess if this shows them that I have worked hard, then it's good."

Guccione will play Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals, and Hewitt believes that the Australian can break into top 50 this season.

"Absolutely," Hewitt said. "He can win matches on all surfaces. He's a dangerous player to play against. He's got one of the best serves in the game, there's no doubt about that, and I think he moves well at the net as well."

Hewitt said his Australian Open preparations would not be bruised by his early exit from the Sydney tournament, which he has won four times.

"I'll just try and hit some balls in the next few days and basically just keep the rhythm," he said. "I felt like I had pretty good rhythm out there today. If I can keep the service rhythm like I did today, hopefully I'll be in the mix.

"There's no point getting worried. I felt all in all today the ball striking was pretty good."