By Greg Pritchard
The Sun Herald
29th July 2000
THE chances of Mark Philippoussis returning to the Australian side for the Davis Cup final may be as unpredictable as ever, but doubles stalwart Todd Woodbridge could be a shock starter.
Time has done nothing to improve the severely strained relations between Philippoussis and his former Davis Cup partners since the Scud upset everyone by pulling out of the semi-final against Brazil this month.
The rival camps have backed into their corners, and even four months may not be nearly enough time to thaw things out before the Aussies play for the Cup against Spain, in Spain, from December 8-10.
Davis Cup captain John Newcombe, who is usually quotable on the most difficult of subjects, appears to have put Philippoussis in the too-hard basket. At least for now.
Asked about the prospects of Philippoussis being invited back for the decider, Newcombe told The Sun-Herald: "I'm not commenting on any of that."
The team behind Philippoussis wasn't giving any ground, either. Asked whether Philippoussis was available for the final, his manager John McCurdy replied: "Mark isn't thinking about it at the moment. He is just concentrating on his tournament schedule. He has got a series of tournaments coming up. The Davis Cup is four months away. We'll leave it at that."
Yet Philippoussis has told Tennis Australia he is available to represent his country at the Olympic Games in Sydney in September.
The job for Australia against Spain, on what will no doubt be the slowest of clay courts at a venue
yet to be announced, ranks as enormous.
Pat Rafter didn't have to think about it during the week when asked whether he would rather have played Spain in Spain or a full-strength United States team in Melbourne. "Definitely the US in Melbourne," he said.
Much could hinge on the doubles and, with Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge in the midst of a stellar year for their pairing in tournaments, they would obviously be the preferred combination.
It was widely assumed Woodbridge had been eliminated from calculations because his wife Natasha is due to give birth at the time of the final, but Newcombe said Woodbridge had not been ruled out.
"The situation is that it's Todd's call," Newcombe said.
"When we knew Mark wasn't going to play in the semi-final the first person we went to was Todd. But he was committed to attending a Payne Stewart memorial function in Ireland. I could appreciate that. They were good friends.
"But we've talked about the final and he doesn't want it assumed that he's out. The baby is going to be born in Florida, where he and Natasha live, and it is due at Davis Cup time so I'm not banking on him being there. A baby is more important but things don't always go to schedule, so you never know. It's up to Todd."
Sandon Stolle partnered Woodforde to win the doubles against Brazil on grass in Brisbane and that will presumably be the combination again if Woodbridge is unavailable.
But Newcombe recalls how Woodforde and Woodbridge won a crucial doubles rubber in the final against France last year. "They were a set and 4-1 down," he said. "But they turned it around brilliantly. The tie was at one-all before the doubles, so it meant everything.
"The Spanish haven't got a great record in doubles but with the crowd behind them they will be very hard to beat."
Meanwhile, Newcombe has revealed his plans to help create what he is confident will be a "Davis Cup dynasty for the next 15 to 20 years" after he and coach Tony Roche step down at the end of the year.
He wants to ensure young tennis talent in Australia is nurtured and hopes Roche will join him. "I've talked to Geoff Pollard at Tennis Australia," he said. "Davis Cup is very special to me and I want to do something that will help our Davis Cup captains and teams of the future."