Ivanovic denies gamesmanship accusations

By Simon Cambers

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Serbia's Ana Ivanovic denied accusations that she used gamesmanship during her 0-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Daniela Hantuchova in the Australian Open semi-finals on Thursday.

A disappointed Hantuchova let slip a 6-0 2-0 lead and later criticised the fourth seed, saying the way she shuffled her feet before the server hits the ball, which results in loud squeaking, was off-putting and unfair.

"That was ridiculous, I think," Hantuchova told reporters.

"I was really surprised with that. I think it's unfair. It's a distraction to the server. We played before and she never did it."

Hantuchova said she had complained to umpire Alison Lang.

"In the first or second service game (she told the umpire), but she didn't do anything about it. I don't think that (the squeaking) was very nice."

But Ivanovic said she did not deliberately make a squeaking noise.

"I just tried to move my feet, to return the ball, so it really was not intentional," Ivanovic said.