Tarango at centre of new controversy

Jeff Tarango, the man who stormed off court at Wimbledon two years ago after verbally abusing an umpire, yesterday claimed he had received a guarantee that the umpire at the centre of that controversy would never officiate at one of his matches again.

Tarango was banned for two Grand Slam events, later reduced to one, and heavily fined for storming off the court. Before his walk-out he had accused Bruno Rebeuh of being "the most corrupt official in the game". His wife shared the headlines for slapping the umpire in the face.

"I've been given that guarantee, yes," he said in reference to his claim, without naming the official who made the assurance. "Anytime I mention a name I get into trouble," he added.

Yet a spokesman at the ATP's headquarters in Florida rejected the possibility of the French umpire being barred from any match on the ATP tour, which only leaves the four Grand Slams, run by the International Tennis Federation, who were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Tarango meets the former champion, Jim Courier, in the Australian Open third round after beating Switzerland's Marc Rosset 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 yesterday.