Nyree Epplett (www.rolandgarros.org/en/)
Wednesday, May 31, 2000
Mark 'The Scud' Philippoussis blasted his way into the third round on Wednesday with a four set victory over American Paul Goldstein 6-4 6-7(3) 6-0 6-2.
The big-serving Aussie took a lengthy two hours and 41 minutes to dispose of the gritty, counterpunching Goldstein, who was debuting in the Roland Garros main draw this year.
For the first two sets this evening though, the 23-year-old American, a Stanford college graduate, looked anything but the new kid on the French clay block. Sporting a pinpoint accurate and fiercely consistent baseline game, Goldstein increasingly frustrated the 1998 US Open finalist, who seemed content with his usual game plan to hit the cover off the ball.
What Goldstein lacked in brute strength he made up for in classical and cunning claycourt finesse, luring Philippoussis to the net where the disgruntled Aussie was often left stranded. A 200-plus kilometer serve helped the Australian notch up 12 aces, and 44 winners came whizzing off his racket during the match. But a dismal first serve percentage (51) and 56 unforced errors had the pundits wondering whether in fact the Scud does have the patience to reach the second week here.
It's no secret then, that the 6'4" Aussie, whose form today sorely belied the fact that he had dispatched No2 seed Pete Sampras in the first round, will have to find a good dose of consistency for his third round encounter against the tiny Moroccan Hicham Arazi. Arazi is the king of five-set matches and relishes the clay courts of Roland Garros, where he has twice reached the quarter final.
Match Facts
· Philippoussis has eight career singles titles; Goldstein is yet to win a singles title.
· Philippoussis' Grand Slam Record stands at 39-18; Goldstein's is 7-8.
· Philippoussis' Roland Garros Record stands at 7-4; Goldsteins is 1-1.
· Philippoussis' best showing at Roland Garros is a fourth round appearance in 1997. Apart from that (and this year), he has never progressed past the second round.
· Goldstein has never played in the main draw at Roland Garros before this year.
· Goldstein played collegiately at Stanford University from 1994-98, graduating with a degree in Human Biology.
· Philippoussis began playing tennis at age six, with his father Nick, a former soccer goalkeeper.
· The Scud was named in People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1998.
PHILIPPOUSSIS CAPS GREAT DAY FOR AUSSIES
By Louise Robson (SportCentral)
PARIS, May 31 AAP - Mark Philippoussis capped a great day for the Australians at the French Open today by overpowering American Paul Goldstein to advance to the third round.
Apart from a lapse of concentration which cost him the second set, Philippoussis rode his sizzling serve to dominate a difficult match, powering 12 aces with a top speed of 200kph.
In a hectic day after Tuesday's wash-out, the other four Australian men in action - Lleyton Hewitt, Jason Stoltenberg, Andrew Ilie and Patrick Rafter - all won their first round matches.
Hewitt ousted Jeff Tarango in three bad-tempered sets, with the erratic American likening the Australian to Mike Tyson.
Nicole Pratt and Alicia Molik both lost first round matches in straight sets.
Former US national college champion Goldstein, who knocked out Briton Greg Rusedski at the Australian Open and took Sampras to four sets at the US Open, put up a gutsy fight as Philippoussis sent him scurrying about the court.
"Now I feel like I've faced the best servers - Rusedski, Sampras and Philippoussis," he said.
But Philippoussis refused to get excited about his 6-4 6-7 (7-3) 6-0 6-2 win or about his prospects for the tournament.
"I'm playing percentage tennis, how I should be playing," he said.
"Nothing to be excited about, just two rounds."
Despite towering a head above Goldstein, Philippoussis was under extreme pressure for much of the first half of the match.
The Australian took the first set but ran into trouble in the second when his opponent took a 5-2 lead.
Philippoussis clawed three games back but lost the tiebreak after a double fault, one of eight for the match, gave his opponent a vital break.
Philippoussis went on to take the next nine games to win the third set and establish an unassailable lead in the fourth.
Philippoussis will meet Moroccan Hicham Arazi in the third round on Friday.
Arazi, ranked just two places below the Australian at No.27, beat Austrian Markus Hipfl in five sets.
Philippoussis said he was expecting an extremely difficult third round match.
"I'm prepared to stay out there as long as I have to," he said.
Both ninth seed Hewitt and Tarango earned code violations during the second set of their match.
Tarango also accused the umpire of bias towards Hewitt as he complained about the Adelaide teenager's habit of pulling his racquet strings and adjusting his clothes between points.
"You are observing the rules for him and not for me," Tarango said.
"Reasonable play does not mean going for 55 Mike Tyson tics between every point.
"Correct the problem: it's not my fault I'm playing Mike Tyson."
After the match, Hewitt, whose pre-match routine includes watching Rocky videos and listening to Eye of the Tiger, said he didn't know what he had done to earn the comparison.
"As soon as I knew I was playing Jeff Tarango, I knew I had to be ready for any surprises," he said.