Amelie Mauresmo obliges autograph-hunters after her fourth round win over Evgenia Linetskaya in Melbourne on Sunday. (AP)

Melbourne: Rod Laver arena has often brought out the worst in players at the Australian Open.

Today, Juan Ignacio Chela was fined $2,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct for spitting during his third-round centre-court loss Saturday to Lleyton Hewitt.

Last year, France?s Fabrice Santoro was seen spitting in the direction of an on-court official during a loss to Mark Philippoussis and was fined $1,500.

In 1990, John McEnroe was defaulted from his fourth-round match against Mikael Pernfors and fined $6,500 for his verbal abuse of Grand Prix supervisor Ken Farrar. It marked the first time that a player had been defaulted from a Grand Slam match.

A year later, McEnroe copped the maximum fine in a Grand Slam ? $10,000 ? for verbal abuse at Wimbledon. Another American, Jeff Tarango, matched McEnroe?s amount four years later when he was fined for using obscenities, also at Wimbledon.

Raising the roof

They cheered at every opportunity ? whether Marcos Baghdatis had won the point or lost it in his fourth-round match against Roger Federer. Mostly it was after the Cypriot qualifier had lost one as Federer had a 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) win.

The scoreline, however, made little difference. Decked out in blue and white, waving flags and chanting wildly, the group of eight made their presence felt in the Australian Open?s centre court stadium.

?We come every day he plays. We?re here to support him,? said James Belias, 24, of the group, all from Melbourne and of Greek Cypriot heritage.

The group had attended his earlier-round matches but looked like missing out on Sunday?s sold-out centre-court match until they were given tickets by Baghdatis after one of the group approached him at practice.

?I wasn?t sure who was leading because they sang along like they were winning,? Federer said of the Cypriot fans. ?I always had to check the score and make sure I was actually winning.?

Baghdatis appreciated the group?s support.

?The crowd was crazy,? he said. ?They made me feel very comfortable, very confident.?

Federer backing

Lleyton Hewitt?s fist pumps, yells of ?come on? and pointing toward his head and heart on key points have become a part of his on-court demeanour, often appearing to rile his opponents. But Roger Federer says, leave Hewitt alone.

?I understand him,? Federer said Sunday. ?He wants to win this tournament so badly, and he?s showing it. He wants people to feel it.

?So what is ?tone it down?? Three ?come ons? less per match? That?s not going to make the difference. He?s fine the way he is.?

Having said that, Federer admitted that Hewitt has annoyed him on court during previous matches.

?We?ve had all these tough matches in the past, he won too many of those,? Federer said, smiling. ?So, yeah, he did annoy me.?

Good side, bad side

Andre Agassi had to endure a record 51 aces from his losing opponent, Sweden?s Joachim Johansson, Sunday in the fourth round at the Australian Open. But after his four-set victory, Agassi ? among the best returners of serve on the tour ? said the good news was that he knew a Sydney inner-city tennis charity would benefit by $ (Aus.) 100 per ace.

?I?m a team player, that?s all I?m saying,? said the smiling Agassi, who added 16 of his own.

?I won?t undermine his efforts and say I let a lot of them go by. I?ll just say that all the money?s going to a great cause.?

A credit card company is donating the money. The 67 total aces in the match gave the charity $5,150.