MELBOURNE (AFP) - Newly-crowned Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova said she would celebrate her win Saturday by burning her
father Yuri's infamous "assassin" camouflage hooded top.
Sharapov caused outrage at the season-opening Grand Slam when he made a throat-slitting gesture after his daughter's quarter-final win over world number one Justine Henin as he wore the army-print sweatshirt courtside.
He escaped punishment for his actions after tennis authorities accepted his explanation that it was an in-joke between father and daughter that had been misinterpreted.
However, the Australian press said it was "gutter behaviour" that cemented his place in the club of infamous tennis parents, while even Sharapova said her father "looks like an assassin" in the top.
She said after downing Serbian fourth seed Ana Ivanovic in the final that she was going to get rid of the controversial garment once and for all.
"I'm actually going to burn his jacket," she said.
"I'm burning that thing, he didn't hide it yet."
The 20-year-old, who rushed to embrace her father after the win, said she had not been upset when he was criticised about the throat-slitting incident.
"No, because the whole thing was an inside joke and I'm just taking care of business out on the court, that's my number one priority," she said.
Former Grand Slam champion Tracy Austin, writing in The Australian earlier this week, called Sharapov "a poor role model".
"That was a highly inappropriate gesture and was totally unnecessary. It's bad manners and has no place in sport," said the American.
"It's one thing to celebrate in a positive way, but it's another to taunt a world-class champion like Henin."
The incident means Sharapov, already notorious for his vocal courtside encouragment of his daughter, seems destined to take his place alongside other infamous tennis parents, including Jim Pierce and Damir Dokic.
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