Scud Disappears - Becker takes control on private court
by Leo Schlink in London

Mark Philippoussis has gone underground in an attempt to emulate new coach Boris Becker’s winning Wimbledon ways.

The Victorian is using the same private court Becker used during a glorious career at the All-England Club, where he reached seven titles and won three championships.

Philippoussis and his coaching staff Gavin Hopper, Mike Depalmer and father Nick Philippoussis make the short journey each day from their rented Wimbledon home to the immaculately maintained court to employ the practice strategies issued by Becker.

"Its going real well, real good", Becker’s deputy Depalmer said. "We’ve had good practices every day, Nick’s been good, we’re doing lots of footwork and getting used to the grass. "We’re working three to four hours a day, doing a lot of footwork and speed drills. Gavin and I seem to have the same way of thinking. "The number one thing is hard work. There’s no easy way around it".

Avoiding the clamour for practice time at Aorangi Park, Philippoussis will use his allocation as a seeded competitor for extended use of the Wimbledon match courts before disappearing to his hideaway court.

Once there, the towering Australian is put through gruelling workouts in a bid to iron out some of the minor kinks evident in his powerful game against triple Wimbledon runner-up Goran Ivanisevic at Queen’s last week.

"I thought Mark was too straight up with Goran and we’ve just been working his butt off", Depalmer said.

Depalmer said Philippoussis was cautiously approaching his first round appointment at Wimbledon with a qualifier, ahead of a possible fourth-round tilt at Ivanesevic or Tim Henman.

"Draws are always tough", he said. "A qualifier has already played three matches, but it’s better than some of the other draws and it’s up to him now". He moves extremely well for a big guy and there are no flaws. I think he can go far, but it’s one at a time, it’s two long weeks, it’s like a marathon. I saw it with Boris, once he was sick, another time he hurt his wrist. Mark must try not to look too far and keep his heart rate down and let me worry about everything else".

Depalmer described Becker’s role as that of a mentor.

"With Boris, it’s more of mental thing. He may do something on the management side that Octagon (Philippoussis’ management) can’t. It’s a mental thing, there's no real involvement with his tennis. There's me, there's Gavin, there's Nick. How much input do you really need until it becomes confusing? Mark knows that Boris is in his corner, but there's nothing on a day to day basis. It could be a long term arrangement, but I want to see some things changed. It's been good, I’m a fresh face. Its short-term in Wimbledon, but I like what I’ve seen. If we’re compatible, it could be long-term."