Notebook

Safin says Grand Slam is one mighty summit

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Marat Safin feels tennis is too competitive and too demanding to produce a Grand Slam.

"There is a chance, but I don't think so," Safin said after his loss in the Australian Open final loss to Roger Federer.

The last man to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam of all four majors -- the Australian, French and U.S. Open and Wimbledon -- was Rod Laver. The Australian did it 1962 and 1969.

"Tennis is too equal, and everybody can beat everybody," Safin said. "Maybe two a year but not all four of them. It takes a lot of energy. ... It's too difficult. Too many matches."

Federer also has his doubts.

"I think it's really difficult," he said, adding with a smile: "I'm the only guy who has a chance this year to do it, so that's not a bad situation."

Global warming

China's Sun Shengnan and Taiwan's Chan Yung-jan did not let political differences between their countries prevent them from winning the junior girls doubles at the Australian Open.

Sun and Chan, seeded second, beat No. 1 Nicole Vaidisova and Veronika Chvojkova 7-5, 6-3. The pair teamed at junior events for the first time last year.

Sun, 17, was seeded eighth in the junior singles and was beaten 6-0, 6-2 in the third round by Canada's Stephanie Dubois.

Beijing still claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan, although the sides split amid civil war in 1949.

French ace

Big-serving Gael Monfils won the junior boys title at the Australian Open, beating Josselyn Ouanna 6-0, 6-3 in an all-French final.

Monfils, 17, is the fourth French junior to win in Melbourne, joining Georges Goven (1965), Julien Jeanpierre (1998) and Clement Morel (2002).

The 6-foot-4 Monfils, who had a serve in Melbourne of almost 135 mph, plans to join the senior ranks.

"I'm looking forward to playing some challenger tournaments to find out what my level is in the big game," Monfils said.

Israel's Shahar Peer won the junior girls title, beating the Czech Republic's Nicole Vaidisova 6-1, 6-4.

No to Hawkeye

The technology used by the Australian Open's television broadcaster to gauge the accuracy of line-calling is unlikely to be used at professional tournaments.

Known as 'Hawkeye', it shows a computer generated image of the ball and where it lands on court. It has cast doubts over several important umpiring decisions during the Australian Open, most notably a crucial call during Saturday's women's singles final won by Justine Henin-Hardenne against Kim Clijsters.

Down break point at 4-3 in the deciding set, Clijsters had a point overruled by chair umpire Sandra de Jenken, which based on replays by Hawkeye appeared incorrect. Clijsters went on to lose the game and the final.

The broadcaster says the technology, originally developed by Englishman Paul Hawkins to determine the accuracy of leg-before-wicket decisions in cricket, has "close to 100 percent accuracy" in its application to tennis.

But Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard said on Sunday that while the technology was a "great tool for television," not enough was known about it for tennis to use it as a replacement for linespeople, or as a third umpire similar to those in cricket and rugby league.

Pollard, who is also the International Tennis Federation (ITF) technology committee chairman, said the ITF was looking into line-calling machines but had not yet assessed Hawkeye's accuracy.

"It hasn't been scientifically tested by the ITF nor have Hawkeye made it available for testing," Pollard said.

Australian Open chief executive Paul McNamee said his tournament would not pioneer Hawkeye's use as the definitive line-caller. "We wouldn't be putting our hand up first," McNamee said. "We've tried electronic lines before and the sport wasn't really in favor of it."