By PATRICK MILES
26jun00

POSTERS of Boris Becker adorned the walls of the bedroom of Mark Philippoussis when he was a boy.

"Four or five of them," Philippoussis says, "and one of Gabriela Sabatini."
Becker was 18 and Philippoussis was nine when the German reached the first of his seven Wimbledon finals and won the first of his three titles.

Today the Australian, at 23, believes he is at the optimum age and stage of development to become a Wimbledon champion.

He arrived from the French Open as a strong favourite for Wimbledon, supported by a common feeling it was "his year".

A second-round defeat by Goran Ivanisevic in the Stella Artois Championships was not alarming, and Philippoussis took to the practice courts with a vengeance.

Becker, who is now helping Philippoussis, claims his new protege was only performing at 40 per cent of his capacity, and the player has responded by doubling the time he spends hitting and training.

"If you are not up and ready for a grand slam, then you shouldn't be playing tennis," Philippoussis said.

Victory to Hewitt at Queen's lifted the teenager above Philippoussis in the eyes of many, including bookmakers. One firm made Hewitt second favourite behind Sampras.

Removal of the spotlight will favour Philippoussis.

He is determined and he has a formidable game for grass. He has played and lost -- to Rafter -- in a grand slam final.

Last year Philippoussis was dominating Sampras, the champion, in a quarter-final when the Australian's knee gave way at 6-4 1-2 on serve, and the American carried on to win his sixth title.

If they meet again this year it will be in the final.

Philippoussiss is in the same quarter of the draw as Tim Henman, whom he could face in the fourth round, Marat Safin and Andre Agassi, the No.2 seed who the Australian would have to play in a quarter-final.

"I'm looking forward to it," he said. "After what happened last year, I'm excited."

The first task for Philippoussis will be to conquer the unknown qualifier Jurgen Melzer of Austria.

Rafter meets Jamie Delgado, a British wildcard, for the first time and needs to be wary.

Hewitt will play Jan-Michael Gambill, of the US, for the third time, with honours even.

Wayne Arthurs, who reached the fourth round last year, plays South Africa's Wayne Ferreira, while Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde have to face Jan Siemerink and Magnus Norman, the No.3 seed, respectively.

Jason Stoltenberg -- who reached the semi-finals here in 1996 -- and Richard Fromberg meet qualifiers Harel Levy and Olivier Rochus.

Andrew Ilie opens with a match against Byron Black, of Zimbabwe, who will be favoured to defeat the Australian on grass.