MARK Phillippoussis believes he can recover from

the rigors of a gruelling five set Wimbledon victory over

Sieng Schalken to end Tim Henman's All-England

Club dream on Centre Court today.

Covered in blood and near exhaustion after taking five hours

and five minutes to dispatch persistent Schalken 4-6 6-3 6-7

(7-9) 7-6 (7-4) 20-18 in the longest single-day match in Wimbledon

history, Philippoussis now has local hero Henman in sight.

"I've got a day off to recover," said Philippoussis, who yesterday

was permitted a rare sleep-in by new coaches Boris Becker and

Mike Depalmer. "I'll be ready to go and I know what I'm capable

of here.

"All the hard training paid off today. There were no secrets out

there. Sjeng knew I was tired, I knew he was tired. I came off with

blood everywhere on my shorts from the cuts on my elbows. I feel

like I've been punched to death.

"But the tournament's only just started now. It's the start of

the second week and I'll be ready. "I know what I'm capable of

I'm here to win it."

Philippoussis and Schalken, regular practice partners, dis-

puted 472 points, 83 games and five sets for the right to advance in

the second-longest match in Wimbledon history. Pancho Gonzales

took seven minutes longer to beat Charlie Pasarell in 1969 in a match

delayed overnight by rain.

Henman was in no danger of threatening the record as he

breezed past Moroccan Hicham Arazi 6-3 6-3 6-3 in 107 minutes -

28 minutes less than it took for the fifth set of the Philippoussis-

Schalken marathon.

In fact, Henman left the locker-room to play Arazi when Schalken

led Philippoussis 1-0 the fifth set. When Henman returned, the

score was 16-16. "What took you so long?" Hen-

man joked to Phulippoussis, who slumped on to a bench to recover

and was in no mood for humor.

Philippoussis clubbed a personal best 44 aces and Schalken

countered with 30 in a quality encounter featuring a minuscule

five service breaks.

The Australian prevailed in the end simply because of superior

skill, willpower and strength. Under siege in the fourth set,

Philippoussis did not lose a point against his first serve.

He had spoken with Becker at the Australian's rented home on

Saturday morning and the pair discussed tactics. In the end, it

came down to nerves.

"I hung in there, stayed mentally tough," Philippoussis said.

"Serving second all the time in the fifth set is tough. You're

always one game away from (losing) the match. "I've always

considered myself a fighter. That was a good match

for me. I very much enjoyed it."

Schalken was predictably shattered: "It's unbelievable it

didn't fall my way," said Schalken, who lost 13-11 to Jim Courier

in the fifth set of the corresponding stage last season. "It could

have gone either way.

"I give credit to him, he started to serve unbelievable so in the

end he was the better player. I couldn't believe how hard

and how accurate he was hitting the serve on the lines. That's why

he won."

Henman, who has lost his past three matches to Philippoussis, is

wary of the strapping Australian. "I'm under no illusions; he's fit

and he's strong," Henman said. "It's going to be very tough, but

it's a winnable match."

Defending champion Pete Sampras admitted he would not

regain full fitness from a foot injury before the end of the

championships after downing Justin Gimeistob 2-6 6-4 6-2 6-2.

But, with history beckoning in the form of a possible 13th singles

major, Sampras has no plans to succumb to the inflammation

which severely affected his efficiency against Karol Kucera

in the second round.

"Playing hurt is something I've learned to deal with over the

years," Sampras said. "You just deal with it. "Everyone at times through

their career has it, if it's Kobe Bryant in the NBA finals, I use

him as my inspiration."

Gimeistob said Sampras did not appear to be overly affected

by the injury. Andre Agassi powered to an unchallenged 6-3 6-3 6-4

victory over Frenchman Jerome Golmard and will now play David

Prinosil. The German Davis-Cupper was rewarded for his

grasscourt excellence with a 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 7-6 (7-0) 6-4 success

over Czech Martin Damm.

The winner in Halle, Prinosil performed heroically against

Australia during the Davis Cup quarter-final in Adelaide in April,

losing two five-set matches. Towering German Alexander

Popp ended French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten's Wimble-

don dreams with an imposing third-round win, 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 6-1.

Kuerten's dismissal removed yet another obstacle for Aust-

ralians Pat Rafter and Philippoussis in a draw which already

has lost 10 of its 16 seeds.

Swiss Olympic Games gold medallist Marc Rosset will face

Popp in search of a quarter-final berth after outlasting German

Tommy Haas in an epic contest 6-4 3-6 6-3 3-6 9-7.