HARSH WORDS COSTLY

There are days when every tennis player climbs out of bed on the wrong side. They are the times when you just have to keep your mouth shut.  Unfortunately for Andre Agassi it appears that was not the case in San Jose this week when he was defaulted for swearing in a second round match against Cecil Mamitt.

I remember playing him during an exhibition in Melbourne and he was swearing his head off.   All of the comments were directed at himself and, given the fact there were no ranking points or prizemoney at stake, it was pretty relaxed.

I occasionally swear on court, always directed at myself, but there is the danger that if a linesperson hears you, your words can be interpreted as a violation.

And that is what has happened to Agassi in California.  It was a tough call, but the bottom line is that he should have kept his mouth shut and he would have probably won the match.

Bermuda is my next destination. I will be home for nine days and I will be really cranking up the workload before I head to Scottsdale in Arizona for my next tournament.  It is an important time now in the lead-up to Indian Wells and Key Biscayne before we head to Zimbabwe for the Davis Cup.

There is a lot at stake and all of the Aussies are keen to do well in the early part of the season to set ourselves up for the year.

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