AUSTRALIAN Patrick Rafter paid a high price for his sportsmanship yesterday when Russian Andrei Cherkasov bundled him out in the second round of the Australian Hard court championships in Adelaide.
Unseeded Rafter was one point away from levelling the match at one set all when he overruled the officials by telling them his shot had landed outside the court.
Because of his honesty, Rafter found himself 13-14 down in the second-set tie-break, instead of being ahead 14-13. He lost the next point to succumb to wildcard entrant Cherkasov 6-2 7-6 (15-13).
"Very few guys would do what he did. Normally you wouldn't say anything and just keep playing," Cherkasov said of his opponent's gesture.
In the next round, Cherkasov will play Sweden's Mikael Tillstrom, who advanced without hitting a ball after Zimbabwean Byron Black withdrew with a stomach virus.
In the first round, Tillstrom beat world number three, top seed and defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia.
Meanwhile, Marc Rosset's New Year began badly as top seeds Switzerland and Croatia suffered unlikely defeats in the Hopman Cup mixed team tournament in Perth.
Rosset was forced to retire with a back injury during his singles contest with Wayne Ferreira and was unable to compete in the mixed doubles, handing South Africa a 2-1 win.
The tall right-handed Rosset was leading 6-0 2-0 and on the brink of securing a Swiss win when he collided with a ball-girl at the net and fell to the court clutching his back.
It is the second successive year misfortune has struck him in Perth. He missed the 1996 Australian Open when he hurt his hand after smashing an advertising hoarding in a fit of temper during last year's final against Croatia.
Tournament director Paul McNamee said he was unsure whether the injury-prone Rosset would be fit to play in Switzerland's last group match against Germany tomorrow, but was confident he would be okay for next week's Sydney tournament and the Australian Open starting on January 13th.
Defending champions Croatia also had a disappointing day, falling to the United States in a Group A tie lasting more than seven hours.
Chanda Rubin put the Americans in the lead with a 6-3 3-6 7-6 win over Iva Majoli before world number four Goran lvanisevic levelled the tie with a 7-6 4-6 7-5 victory against Justin Gimelstob.
Gimelstob, ranked 151st in the world, was holidaying in Miami last week before he was called in as a late replacement for Richey Reneberg whose wife was expecting a baby. But he rose to the challenge in the mixed doubles as the Americans clinched the tie with a 3-6 6-3 7-6 victory which leaves the group wide open.
Tonight, the US meet Australia and Croatia play France.
. Top seed Brenda Schultz-McCarthy eventually brushed aside the challenge of Dutch compatriot, Miriam Oremans in a second-round match in the Gold Coast Classic at Hope Island yesterday.
Oremans saved four set points in the first set tiebreaker before losing,
