Mark Philippoussis, seeded No.4, could not get past Brazil's Andre Sa in his Wednesday match at the Legg Mason Classic. (Jonathan Newton - The Washington Post)

By Rachel Alexander
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 17, 2000; Page D01

Mark Philippoussis stared straight ahead last night, calmly placing his tennis rackets back in his bag and meticulously wiping his towel over his wrists as a stunned crowd whirred around him. A few feet away, young Brazilian Andre Sa was hugging a friend and waving at the fans, but on Philippoussis's side of the umpire's chair, there was little motion, little sentiment.

Finally, he rose. But even a few minutes after he walked off the stadium court of the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, the fourth-seeded Philippoussis seemed frozen, as if his 6-1, 7-6 (12-10) second-round loss to Sa at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic was not quite real.

"I wasn't there at all for tonight's match," he said, sounding more detached than glum. "It wasn't to be."

Not much has seemed destined these days for Philippoussis, who has had a miserable summer and played like it last night. He fell behind early, briefly showed some life in the second set and then tripped himself up when it counted, falling on Sa's fifth match point when he slammed a forehand into the net.

It was the exact opposite of what had happened on the same court just a few hours earlier, when American Jan-Michael Gambill rallied from a 1-5 third-set deficit to beat veteran Alex O'Brien, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. Gambill, who fought off five match points before finishing the match with four aces, said at one point he looked across the net and "said to myself, I'm not going to let him just win it."

Philippoussis apparently never had that conversation.

"I am a little stunned, actually," said Philippoussis's coach, Mike DePalmer. Formerly Boris Becker's coach, DePalmer has been working with Philippoussis for about two months, and it has been an up-and-down struggle.

"He was trying to end points too quickly, not using strategy out there," DePalmer said. "We're trying to change his game, and he'll get there, but it's not there yet. Tennis is like a chess match. You can't just go out there and hit big balls. You have to put a lot of thought into it."

Sa, ranked No. 99 in the ATP Tour's champion's race, is always a gritty competitor, but even he was surprised to see Philippoussis miss his final opportunity to extend the match to a third set, double-faulting on a 100 mph serve. Much of the summer has gone this way for Philippoussis, who flew to Australia for two weeks off after Wimbledon and hasn't seemed to recover from the break. He lost in the second round in Los Angeles, the first round in Toronto and the third round in Cincinnati, where he held a 4-1 advantage in the final-set tiebreaker and then gave the match away.

Some of Philippoussis's problems likely stem from his difficulties with the Australian Davis Cup team, for whom he agreed to play and then backed out at the last minute. DePalmer said that when Philippoussis was in Australia, he "couldn't leave his house, so many people were hounding him," and that he was so upset by the commotion that he didn't work out or practice at all.

"What you are seeing now is a lack of preparation," DePalmer said. "Now we are trying to catch up."

Both Gambill and fellow young American Paul Goldstein also walked onto the grounds here yesterday without having played much this summer, although for an entirely different reason. Both injured their ankles playing in Los Angeles last month, and both are hoping to get their games back in shape here.


Gambill, playing his first match since the injury, waited until it was almost too late to find his rhythm, while Rockville's Goldstein, playing his third match in 24 hours, had a tough time keeping his. Goldstein said he felt "a little cranky" after getting only a few hours sleep, but eventually he was able to overcome Czech Jiri Vanek, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, to advance to the third round, where he will face Andre Agassi.

BBC News

Brazil's Andre Sa upset fourth-seeded Australian Mark Philippoussis 6-1 7-6 (12/10) to reach the third round of the $800,000 ATP Washington Classic.

The 23-year-old from Belo Horizonte left hard-serving "Scud" horizontal, stopping the Davis Cup exile in a dramatic tie-breaker on his fifth match-point opportunity.

Philippoussis said. "He played some good tennis. In the tie-breaker, when I should have taken him out, I just wasn't there."

The 23-year-old reiterated his refusal play for Australia in the Davis Cup, even though Wally Masur has replaced John Newcombe as captain.

Asked if having Masur in the charge would change his stance, Philippoussis said, "No."

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Sa, whose first ATP semi-final berth came in February at Memphis, advanced to a third-round match against Germany's David Prinosil, who eliminated Italy's Laurence Tieleman 6-1 5-7 6-3.

"It's the best win of my career," Sa said. "I'm pretty excited."

Fifth seed Jan-Michael Gambill saved five match points, rallying to win the final six games and oust fellow American Alex O'Brien 6-3 5-7 7-5.

Gambill fired four aces to end his first match since hurting his right ankle in last month's Los Angeles final loss to Michael Chang.

"It's the first time I've been down that far and pulled through," Gambill said. "Matches like this make you a tougher player."

The big surprise came when Andy Roddick, a 17-year-old American wild card, ousted eighth-seeded Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, 4-6 6-3 6-3 for his third ATP triumph. Santoro has struggled since breaking his right middle finger in July.

"I knew if I put lots of returns on the court in the third set I could win," Roddick said. "Once I got the break to start the second set, I told myself to stay calm."

Bosnian qualifier Kristian Capalik, a 21-year-old who will soon be a US citizen, failed to capitalize on a second-set match point and allowed Slovakia's Karol Kucera to win 3-6 7-5 6-3.

Disappointment

There was disappointment for Britain's Barry Cowan, beaten 6-4 6-1 by Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan, who will meet second seed Alex Corretja of Spain for a quarter-final spot.

Hometown favorite Paul Goldstein, back after a three-week layoff with an injured left foot, bounced Czech Jiri Vanek 6-2 3-6 6-4.

He now faces a third-round date with two-time defending champion and top seed Andre Agassi.

Goldstein is a friend and practice partner of the reigning US Open champion, a five-time champion here who figures to have the crowd against him.

"I can handle that if it's only for one night," Agassi said. "Paul is playing well. It will be a hard-fought match."

Washington 08-16-00


Mark Philippossis today lost to a player he might have faced had he contested the Australia versus Brazil Davis Cup semi-final in Brisbane as month.

Scud was beaten 6-1, 7-6(10) by Brazilian up-and-comer Andre Sa in the second round of the Legg Mason Classic.

Sa replaced Gustavo Kuerten in the reverse singles against Australia, but was whipped by Lleyton Hewitt. Philippoussis, who withdrew from the Davis Cup tie with injuries, has been struggling to regain the form which propelled him to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

Against Sa in the Legg Mason Classic, Philippoussis held four set points in the second set tie-breaker. The Australian powerhouse was characteristically philosophical after the match. "That's the kind of player I am," he said. "I'm going to go for shots. It's gotten me out of trouble. It's gotten me into of trouble."

In other matches, popular American Jan-Michael Gambill fought back from 1-5 down in the decider to beat doubles expert Alex O'Brien 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. "I've actually never won a match like that," Gambill said. "It's the first time I've been down that far and had match points against me and pulled through."

Gambill's younger compatriot, Andy Roddick, upset eighth-seeded Fabrice Santoro of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Roddick, 17, the Australian Open junior champion, plays ninth-seeded Karol Kucera of Slovakia in the third round. Kucera also came close to losing in straight sets against qualifier Kristian Capalik but came back to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Tomorrow, top seed Andre Agassi plays American Paul Goldstein, who defeated Jiri Vanek 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. Agassi has won this tournament five times. The Las Vegan is trying to get some extra match play this year in the doubles, but his opponents keeping retiring injured. Teaming with Sargis Sargsian, they advanced to the third round when Peter Nyborg pulled out with a sore back. Agassi was scheduled to play doubles Wednesday with Sargsian, but Croatia's Ivan Ljubcic (playing with Andrea Gaudenzi) withdrew with a strained shoulder.