NOTEBOOK: Irate Nalbandian to appeal 8,000-dollar Melbourne fine

Jan 21, 2012, 1:48 GMT

Melbourne - David Nalbandian is set to lash back with an appeal of an 8,000-dollar fine at the Australian Open for allegedly throwing water on a tournament employee after a second-round loss to John Isner.

The Argentine was steaming after he had been denied the chance to challenge a line call which had been over-ruled by the chair umpire, with the South American being told that he did not make his challenge in a timely manner.

'To go ahead with this fine they are carrying out two injustices,' Nalbandian said on Twitter. 'One on and the other off the court. I'm going to appeal the fine.

'I strongly deny throwing water at an ATP assistant after the match against Isner. While he found me washing my hands during the anti-doping test, unbelievably the doctor in charge accused me of throwing water at him.'

Nalbandian let his temper explode after the loss against umpire Kader Nouni. 'It's ridiculous playing this kind of tournament with this kind of umpire. What did the ATP do this for?' Nalbandian told.

The incident was not lost on Roger Federer, who has never been a fan of the Hawkeye electronic line-calling system and took the opportunity to re-state his opinion.

'You wish that you talk about how great they were serving and returning and playing instead of talking about this one stupid call,' said the Swiss. 'Unfortunately it might have changed the outcome of the match potentially.

'We all knew that this is exactly the type of point that needs to be challenged. We need to see the call. It can't be that there is no call. So it was just so unfortunate.

'I felt bad for David, but it was still a great match. I guess the players and the umpires need to get it right in terms of helping each other.'

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NOTEBOOK: Murray becomes picture of decorum on court =

Melbourne (dpa) - While Marcos Baghdatis gains notoriety for his epic racquet smash at the Australian Open, Scot Andy Murray has suddenly become the picture of decorum on court.

Observers put it down to the Ivan Lendl Factor as the fourth seed's new coach instils some discipline in the ranks. With a previous reputation for screaming obscenities at his player box and occasionally bloodying his knuckles with his racquet strings in moments of frustration, Murray has now gone Zen on court.

He even ventured a thought about how the bad boys of previous generations might have fared within the discipline-bound strictures of the current game. 'If they had the rules that they have in place now, it would be interesting to see what would happen to some of the older players with the things that they did.

'I'd like to see the fines they would be racking up and they'd be getting defaults left, right, and centre.

'But I would like to see someone try the things that McEnroe would have now to see what would happen to them. I saw some clips of him yesterday; I think he was playing Anders Jarryd in Sweden, and he's smashing bottles like into the stand and stuff.'

Murray also remembered his own recent days as a foul-mouthed tearaway in the heat of a match. 'Before, the guys were way worse behaved and said way, way worse things to the umpires. Yet if I swear on the court, I get asked about a hundred questions about it.

'Years ago players were swearing at umpires, swearing at ball kids, people in the stands and stuff. I've taken my fair share of stick for saying stuff on the court that was very, very mild compared with what the guys used to before. I'm happy with the way it is just now.'