THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1

Lleyton won't back down in battle with ATP
Hewitt's lawyers challenging legitimacy of the ATP Appeal Committee

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

FROM THE U.S. OPEN – ATP CEO Mark Miles' statements Thursday that Lleyton Hewitt's $103,000 fine for refusing to do a required TV interview in Cincinnati probably will be whittled on appeal hasn't quelled the fires in the Hewitt camp. In fact, it has only added fuel to what is rapidly becoming a towering inferno.

"Everyone takes Lleyton's comments in context that he's angry at the tour right now, but hopefully he won't be as mad once the dust settles," said Miles when asked how he responded to Hewitt's contention that the tour is a bunch of liars and a circus. "I'd rather it wasn't said. But we've been sued before and we've been condemned before. That comes with the territory."

However, no dust has settled and it appears that there is a tornado making it's way down from NYC toward tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Hewitt's camp told tennisreporters.net Friday that not only does the No. 1 player not expect to pay any amount of fine, but will demand an apology from the ATP for what occurred the day Hewitt was fined in Cincinnati for refusing to do a pre-match interview with ESPN. Moreover, Hewitt's lawyers, Barnes & Thornburg, are challenging the very legitimacy of the ATP's appeals committee, which one member of the Hewitt camp likened to a kangaroo court. Ironically, it is the same law firm that is suing the tour for the men's tournament in Indianapolis, which is objecting to having its dates changed.

Lleyton's people are saying that they are objecting now as a matter of principle and that the amount of the fine has nothing to do with it. They say that certain members of the ATP Tour staff have it out for him and are using the 21-year-old Aussie as a whipping boy. They say that Miles has ordered an administrative review of the incident and that certain ATP employees jobs are in jeopardy. They say that Lleyton fulfilled his media obligations during the week of Cincinnati (he did interviews with CBS, the New York Times magazine -- which never published it -- and Time Magazine) and that he would have eventually done something with ESPN (maybe put the headphones on and analyze a match).

They say that Lleyton's media objectives do not need to fit in with ATP objectives and still say that he may not play the required number of ATP tournaments next year. They admit he was wrong not to do the interview earlier, but say that he would have made good with ESPN had not the ATP stepped in and submarined the process.

MILES SUGGESTS REDUCING SIX-FIGURE FINE
What Miles did not say and what was reported by other outlets was that he suggesting that the appeals committee reduce Hewitt's fine. He did say that he stood behind his staff and that Hewitt should have done the interview, because ESPN is the host broadcaster and they need the No. 1 to discuss tennis when they are promoting a tournament.

"The interview needed to get done," Miles said. "Sports is a very competitive market place and we need our players to be accessible to the public through the media. The tour has a set of expectations we expect to be met. The Stars Program rule that passed by the player's council (including Alex Corretja and Thomas Muster) was designed by the players because most players believe it is their responsibility to promote the sport. Players are not only expected top perform oncourt -- which Lleyton does very well -- but off-court as well. I hope in time he'll come to understand that the ATP is a great asset and it can help him further his career. I hope he can meet us halfway."

However, Miles did add, "It wasn't a travesty and it wasn't particularly egregious. It's gotten overly complicated. He was expected to do an interview that would have taken 10 or 15 minutes, probably, so the host broadcaster would have it in the can for their coverage of his match. It didn't get done. In my mind that's not a $100,000 problem. But it's up to the committee to decide the amount of the fine. I'm not telling them what to do."

Hewitt doesn't see it that way, because he's had it in for ESPN since ESPN Radio made a few comments last year about his behavior during the James Blake incident. Hewitt doesn't want to be told by the tour -- which he doesn't trust at all and hasn't since he first came on tour -- who he should be talking to. "He's had no faith in the ATP since day one," said one Hewitt supporter.

Hewitt would be interested to know that Miles thinks "he's great for men's tennis. Six year's ago, we were criticized because out No. 1, Pete Sampras, wasn't controversial enough. Now Lleyton's considered too controversial. In a perverse way, maybe this problem will end up helping us out. Fans like a guy with an edge."

Lleyton's camp says that it is the tour that is giving men's tennis a black eye in the dispute, not the other way around.

FYI: The highest fine ever paid for a Stars Program violation was $29,000 by Yevgeny Kafelinkov.