Tennis: Open champion declares his hand

Dominik Hrbaty with the diamond-encrusted Hopman Cup trophy which he took through Customs at Auckland International Airport. Picture / Amos Chapple

Dominik Hrbaty arrived in Auckland yesterday with a couple of mandarins in one pocket and a diamond-encrusted tennis ball in the other.

The Slovak, defending champion at this week's Heineken Open and world No 14, felt the full weight of the law when he revealed the fruit which he had picked up at Perth to munch while waiting for his flight.

Hrbaty was fined $200 for attempting to import the mandarins, but he saw the funny side of the incident yesterday.

"It was the most expensive mandarins I've ever had. I could have bought 50kg of them." he laughed.

The tennis ball was no laughing matter, however. It was for winning the Hopman Cup mixed teams event for Slovakia, along with compatriot Daniela Hantuchova on Saturday.

The ball has 174 diamonds crusted on it and is valued at A$30,000 ($33,000). It is now safely locked up.

"I would say that this is the nicest trophy of all you can get on the tour," he said, adding that assessment excluded the most prized possession of a Grand Slam trophy.

Hrbaty, who turned 27 last week, has won six ATP titles, pocketed more than US$4.8 million ($6.9 million) in winnings and is aiming for his third Open title this week to go with wins in 2001 and last year.

In a quirk of the draw, Hrbaty has drawn teenage Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal in his first round match at the ASB Tennis Centre tomorrow.

A year ago they played the final, which Hrbaty won in three sets.

The top seed for the Open is world No 7 Guillermo Coria of Argentina.

Hrbaty beat Coria 6-4 6-1 to win the Hopman Cup decider.