Kucera accuses line judges of cheating
Slovakian tennis player Karol Kucera accused Australian Open line judges of deliberately favouring local hero Lleyton Hewitt in their second round match.
Kucera, who lost in four sets, said he was the victim of too many poor calls for it to be a coincidence.
Hewitt won the match 1-6 6-1 6-4 6-1, his opponent declaring he had been helped by bad line calls.
"Even the linespeople helped him," Kucera said.
"I think it was a little bit on purpose."
Kucera said he had asked the chair umpire to intervene after the three questionable calls went against him.
But he said there were as many as six "mistakes" made by the line judges.
In a couple of cases, television replays showed the calls to be incorrect and Kucera said players in the locker room had told him he was clearly the victim of some bad calls.
Kucera said he had never experienced so many bad calls in his previous appearances at the Open.
"But I haven't played Hewitt before," he said.
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