MELBOURNE, Jan 23: Juan Ignacio Chela was fined $2,000 on Sunday for un sports man like conduct after an ugly incident when the Argentine spat towards Australian rival Lleyton Hewitt during an Australian Open third round match.

Tournament referee Peter Bellenger reviewed a video of Saturday's highly charged contest before the fine was announced by the International Tennis Federation, which runs grand slam events.

The maximum penalty for un sports man like conduct is $10,000 but it is rarely applied. Frenchman Fabrice Santoro was fined $1,500 during last year's Open for spitting in the direction of a line judge.

Brazil's Gusatvo Kuerten was fined a record $7,000 at the 1998 French Open when he threw his racket at an umpire during a doubles match. The racket slipped out of his hand and hit a spectator and he was immediately defaulted from the match.

Third seed Hewitt won the tense match 6-2 4-6 6-1 6-4 but the result was overshadowed by the on-court drama as tensions threatened to boil over in the fourth set. Hewitt accepted 25th seed Chela's apology but described the incident as sad.

The Australian media were not about to forgive Chela. "Spit and Polish," blared Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper on its front page on Sunday. "Hewitt has last say in nasty spat," it said.

The tabloid Herald Sun's more conservative rival The Age also featured the ugly incident on its front page. "Hewitt's victory marred by a spit of bother," The Age said.

The incident was captured by television cameras as the Argentine walked to change ends early in the fourth set. Chela said after the match he had become angry as a bristling Hewitt increased the volume of his trademark shouts of "C'mon".

The Argentine became so rattled that he fired a serve which Hewitt had to jump to avoid. That incensed Hewitt so much that, after breaking to lead 2-1, he appeared to mutter an obscenity towards Chela and the Argentine was then seen to spit in Hewitt's direction.

Chela admitted that he had been angered by Hewitt's on-court antics, but denied spitting directly at him. Eleven men and six women have been fined at the tournament so far, including two other Argentinians.

Ninth seed David Nalbandian was fined $500 for racket abuse and 12th seed Guillermo Canas was fined $1,000 for receiving coaching during a match. The fiery Hewitt will face another Argentine player if he is able to reach the last eight.

His fourth-round opponent is talented Spaniard Rafael Nadal. If he overcomes the tricky left-hander Nadal, Hewitt will meet either Nalbandian or his compatriot and sixth seed Guillermo Coria in the quarter finals.

Hewitt is no stranger to controversy. In 2001, while playing James Blake, a black American, at the U.S. Open, he was accused of making a racist comment towards a linesman after a call went against him.

Blake came to Hewitt's rescue, saying he did not consider the words to be racially offensive. When the two met again this week Blake mimicked Hewitt's shout and a trademark salute, borrowed from former world number one Mats Wilander of Sweden. Reuters