Philippoussis finds fortune in fortitude Wimbledon
By Trevor Marshallsea

LONDON, July 2 AAP - Mark Philippoussis came through the second longest match in modern Wimbledon history punch drunk but satisfied that if he could survive that, he can survive what lies ahead.

``I feel I've just been punched to death for five hours,'' said 10th seed Philippoussis, after outlasting gallant Dutchman Sjeng Schalken 4-6 6-3 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-4) 20-18.

Boxing analogies were particularly relevant after this third round classic, which ranks as one of the most memorable Wimbledon matches of all time and could prove the making of the Australian as a grand slam contender.

Philippoussis looked and sounded more like a prize fighter - and a confident one at that - than a tennis player, after the sapping five hour, five minute contest which was only seven minutes short of the Wimbledon record.

There was the blood, on his elbow from an early dive and consequently all over his shorts. There was his thanks for a new fitness regimen that would do Evander Holyfield proud - four hours of work every non-playing day.

There was also the look of happy fatigue after the tournament's second favourite had slugged it out, punch for counter-punch, with Schalken in a fifth set lasting two hours and 15 minutes. That was not only long enough to start and finish an inordinately long AFL match but also the longest fifth set at Wimbledon in the Open era.

``I've always considered myself a fighter and that was a good match for me just to hang in there,'' Philippoussis said.

The match ranks second for time length behind Pancho Gonzales' 1969 win over Charlie Pasarell.

The 38 games of the fifth set pipped the 36 by Aussie Paul McNamee in beating Todd Nelson in 1987, while the 83 games played were the most in a match here since 1970, before the tiebreaker was introduced.

Philippoussis felt like an entertainer, too. As the fifth set wore on, he looked up to see crowds clinging to every vantage point they could find to see which player would yield.

As the shadows lengthened, as both players grunted and groaned through every shot, and summoned treatment for stiffening muscles, no-one left their seats.

This included some of Philippoussis' all time great compatriots - Rod Laver, Margaret Court, Tony Roche amongst them - who had earlier taken part in a special parade of champions. The locker rooms were full of others watching the tussle, in which Philippoussis gained the only break of the fifth set, to love in the 37th game, before serving out for the match.

Eighth-seeded Briton Tim Henman - who will have the crowd on his side when Philippoussis rises again to play him in the fourth round on Monday - went on court at 1-1 in the fifth set, beat Hicham Arazi in straight sets, and returned to find it 16-16.

``I said to Philippoussis, 'What took you so long?'' Henman said. ``They're the kind of matches I'm proud of,'' Philippoussis told reporters.

``That's why you play tennis.''

Another spectator, Andre Agassi, put it best: ``There are times, which we saw today with Philippoussis and Schalken, where really it does become nothing about tennis but about something else. It becomes about will and spirit.''

The merit of Philippoussis' triumph lay not just in him never being down a break point in any of his 20 service games of the last set, but also that he recovered from missing break points at 8-8 and 16-16, and from squandering an early break in the fourth set to stay in the match through the tiebreaker.

``We were both tired. I was very tired,'' he said. ``Now that I've finished it and I've taken a deep breath, you know, the tournament has just started.''