EXCLUSIVE
THE SCOOP: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1

Hewitt's hearing over $106,000 ATP fine starts next week

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Lleyton Hewitt's appeal of a $106,000 fine for refusing to do a required TV interview in Cincinnati last summer will be conducted next week in New York in front of an appeals panel that consists of former players Jacob Hlasek and Richey Reneberg, tennisreporters.net has learned.

Hewitt's spokeswoman, Kelly Wolfe of Octagon, confirmed the names of the two panel members. A retired Federal Circuit Court judge has also been named to the panel.

Unlike Hewitt, both Reneberg and Hlasek enjoyed most of their success on the doubles tour. Hlasek also coached Switzerland's Davis Cup team in 2001.

Hewitt will ask for a complete repeal of the fine.

Whether Hewitt attends the hearing in person is up in the air and depends on how well he does at the Tennis Masters-Series Paris this week. He will play Paradorn Srichaphan in Saturday's semifinals.

Hewitt may end up stating his case to the panel via video conferencing.

Sources also told tr.net that a number of witnesses will be flown in to testify. Both Octagon and the ATP have handed the case over to lawyers. One source estimated the cost of the proceeding for the case has already exceeded $200,000.

Hewitt's attorneys, Barnes & Thornburg, is the same law firm that is suing the tour on behalf of men's tournament in Indianapolis, which is objecting to having its dates changed.

After being hit with the fine last summer, Hewitt called the ATP "a bunch of liars and a circus."

The No. 1 player's camp told tr.net during the US Open that not only does Hewitt not expect to pay any amount of fine, but would 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. Hewitt's camp also said that the ATP Tour staff have it out for him and are using the 21-year-old Aussie as a whipping boy. They claimed that Hewitt fulfilled his media obligations during the week of Cincinnati and that he would have eventually done something with ESPN.

They also stated that Hewitt's media objectives do not need to fit in with ATP objectives and said that he may not play the required number of ATP tournaments next year. They admitted that 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 IS STAUNCH IN POSITION
ATP CEO Mark Miles said in September that he stood behind his staff and Hewitt should have done the interview because ESPN was the host broadcaster and they need the No. 1 player to discuss tennis when they are promoting a tournament.

"The interview needed to get done," Miles said. "Sports is a very competitive marketplace 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 to perform oncourt – which Lleyton does very well – but offcourt 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 intimate at the time that he expected the fine to be reduced. "It wasn't a travesty and it wasn't particularly egregious," Miles said. "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."

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