Los Angeles: Mark Philippoussis could hardly have asked for a better first assignment to start his US hardcourt campaign but he made heavy work of it.
After missing Australia's Davis Cup semi-final with injury, second-seed Philippoussis found his first-round opponent, Vince Spadea, had withdrawn from the Mercedes Benz Cup.
Instead, Philippoussis got to play the qualifying tournament's lucky loser, Scott Humphries, an American who had lost all of his 13 previous ATP Tour matches.
Philippoussis was familiar with Humphries because he'd lost a tight Wimbledon junior final to him in 1994.
The big Australian again found himself in a close battle before winning 7-5 7-6 (7-2) on Wednesday.
"He's got nothing to lose, so he's going to go out there swinging," Philippoussis said. "I wasn't that comfortable with my serve.
"I wanted to try to get a good start, which I did, then I lost my concentration. As I play more games I'll get better and more consistent."
Humphries was left contemplating a dismal record since his junior win.
"I just keep plugging away. I've had a lot of close ones," he said.
Australia's top players should be able to resolve their differences without outside involvement, Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard said yesterday.
He said the long lead-up to the Davis Cup final in December against Spain would give plenty of opportunities for hatchets - largely between Philippoussis and Pat Rafter - to be buried.
Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt expressed concern when Philippoussis made himself unavailable for the semi-final against Brazil.
"Not just the current team, but even previous teams and players, there have always been differences and they've always been resolved," he said.
And Pollard is confident the rift will not be a factor in the lead-up to the Olympics.
The Davis Cup team will be named 10 days before the final.
"I believe they will be resolved in this case as well."
John Fitzgerald, Wally Masur, Geoff Masters and Peter McNamara will be interviewed for the cup captain's job for next year.