Hewitt pulls out of warm-up event

Lleyton Hewitt's Australian Open preparations suffered another setback yesterday when he pulled out of a warm-up tournament in Sydney, citing a calf injury.

Hewitt told organisers he was withdrawing just hours after splitting with his coach Roger Rasheed, who released a statement saying he was quitting because he could not work with the former world number one "within the current environment."

"The timing is not ideal, but I feel that it is in both of our best interests that this decision not be delayed," Rasheed said.

Rasheed took over as Hewitt's coach in 2003 when Jason Stoltenberg quit two weeks before he was due to defend his Wimble-don title. Hewitt, 25, is currently ranked 20th in the world and has not won a grand slam title in four-and-a-half years.

After a week of painful setbacks for Australian tennis, Chris Guccione gave the home fans something to cheer about when he reached his first ATP final at the Adelaide International. The local wildcard overcame Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro 5-7 6-3 7-5 to set up a final showdown against Novak Djokovic.

Chennai Open SFs

Koubek bt Moya 6-3 6-1; Malisse bt Nadal 6-4 7-6.