MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Peter Lundgren was dumped as Roger Federer's coach in December 2003, barely a month before Federer won the Australian Open, the first of his three Grand Slam tournaments in 2004.

This year, Lundgren was cheering in the stands when his new pupil, Marat Safin, beat Lleyton Hewitt in the championship final in four sets at Melbourne Park on Sunday.

Safin paid special tribute to Lundgren, who began coaching the Russian in May of last year.

"I never believed in myself until I started working with him," said Safin. "We worked really hard. We communicate really well. He understood who I am and I understood what he wants from me."

Safin said it took four or five months for the work to show in tournaments.

"They are continuing to come," said Safin. "He makes me believe that I can be a good player, and I don't have so much doubt about myself, about my tennis. He's a great person and a great coach."

Lundgren celebrated his 40th birthday on Saturday. The Swedish-born Lundgren won three singles and three doubles titles after turning pro in 1983, with his highest singles ranking 25th in 1985.

Safin, who turned 25 on Thursday, the same night he beat Federer in the semifinals, hopes the partnership will pay further Grand Slam dividends.

"If Peter will stick around with me, I think we can make it," said Safin, who added Sunday to his other major title, the 2000 U.S. Open. "Two Grand Slams . . . I would love to win a couple more."

Thanks, says Marat

New Australian Open champion Marat Safin was asked whether his racket-throwing tantrums served a purpose, as in turning his game around when things are going the wrong way. "Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you," replied Safin, indicating that was precisely the case.

Safin admitted it's nearly impossible to keep his emotions in check. Sunday's final was only a one-broken-racket night, a rarity.

"Sometimes you feel like it's really eating inside of you, and you have to let it go because you cannot handle the pressure," said Safin. "I was just swelling, swelling until I snapped because I couldn't take it anymore. And then it was a relief."

Video on order

Australian Open chief executive Paul McNamee said Sunday that video technology to assist chair umpires was "inevitable" and was likely to be introduced here in 2006 with funds already allocated in next year's tournament budget.

McNamee says the video should be on point-ending challenges only.

"It's only on the last point of the rally otherwise you would end up with no linesmen at all," said McNamee. "You would have machines calling the lines and that is not where the sport wants to go -- you don't want to remove the human element completely."

Earlier in the tournament, women's champion Serena Williams said players should only be able to challenge two or three calls a match.

She's in favor of helping line judges and chair umpires, perhaps because of her much-discussed loss to Jennifer Capriati at last year's U.S. Open. Williams was hurt by several officiating errors. The United States Tennis Association is investigating the technology and is hoping to introduce line calling aids for umpires at the next U.S. Open.

"We're very encouraged by the initial testing," U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier said earlier. "There's a lot of steps to go, but our goal is to have some type of electric line calling aids for umpires at the 2005 U.S. Open."

Serena spends some winnings

Serena Williams held true to her promise, celebrating her Australian Open final win over Lindsay Davenport by shopping at some Melbourne boutiques.

Hours after her win, Williams jumped on a water taxi with her trophy and motored down the Yarra River, which runs alongside Melbourne Park.

Williams took the more sensible option -- American Jim Courier jumped into the murky Yarra fully clothed after his singles wins in 1992 and 1993.

Crowds open up at Open

The 14-day Australian Open broke the 500,000 attendance mark for the sixth year in a row, up more than 20,000 on last year. The final-day attendance Sunday was 19,273, increasing the overall mark to 543,873. It also saw the highest one-day attendance in its 100-year history when 60,069 spectators came to Melbourne Park on Saturday, Jan. 22. Celebrity visitors included golfer Greg Norman, boxer Kostya Tszyu, former LA Lakers basketball coach Phil Jackson, singer Olivia Newton-John and actor Geoffrey Rush.

Two Aussies in top 10

Australia will have a man and woman in the world's top 10 for the first time in 21 years -- Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik -- when the next rankings are released.

Hewitt will rise from No. 3 to second in the rankings Monday after becoming the first Australian since John Newcombe in 1970 to progress to at least the quarterfinals of four consecutive Grand Slam tournaments.

Roger Federer, who lost to Marat Safin here in the semifinals, remains No. 1 while Andy Roddick drops one place to No. 3 and the new Australian Open champion Safin is fourth.

Molik will climb from No. 12 to 10th after becoming the first Australian woman since Anne Minter in 1988 to advance to the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park. Molik beat Venus Williams in the fourth round.

Losing finalist Lindsay Davenport remains at No. 1 while Australian Open champion Serena Williams moves up to second from seventh.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.