World No. 3 and Australia's top tennis player Lleyton Hewitt on Thursday criticized the court surface of Melbourne Park, where the Australian Open will be held between Jan. 17-30, 2005.

No Australian male has won his home grand slam championship since 1976 when Mark Edmondson beat John Newcombe in the final.

Hewitt said the Melbourne Park courts had slowed noticeably in recent years, linking it with the poor recent showing by the nation's top players in the Australian Open.

He said Australian tennis officials had not listened to his repeated urgings to install faster courts.

"At the end of the day it's their tournament, it's the Australian Open's business how they want the court," Hewitt said.

"But I know the US Open would definitely be going up to (US players) (Andy) Roddick and (Pete) Sampras and (Andre) Agassi and asking them what kind of surface they want and how quick they want it.

"At the end of the day, if one of those guys are in the semi or the final then it's making the USTA a hell of a lot of money," he said.

He noted that Australia's best three players of the past decade- himself, retired former world No.1 Pat Rafter, and Mark Philippoussis - had all had their best results on slicker surfaces at Wimbledon and the US Open.

"Maybe the court surface has a little bit to do with that," Hewitt said.

However, Australian Open tournament director Paul McNamee said the Melbourne Park surface always had been slower than US Open venue Flushing Meadows.

"Since 2001 it's been the same or quicker," McNamee said.

"It's a very good surface, Rebound Ace has been able to tweak its surface a little this year and we're quite comfortable with it," McNamee said.

Editor: Wing