Gambill upsets 15th seed Philippoussis

Dailytennis

2^nd September 2000

NEW YORK, Sept 2 (Reuters)(DS) - Big-serving Australian Mark
Philippoussis, the 15th seed, was gunned down by American
Jan-Michael Gambill in straight sets in a second-round match at
the U.S. Open tennis championships on Saturday.
Gambill used one break in each set to oust the 1998 U.S.
Open runner-up 6-4 6-4 6-4 in a match that was postponed by
Friday night rain. The American may have benefited from the
extra rest after having come from two sets down for a five-set,
first-round victory in wich he suffered from cramping.
Gambill said he was happy not to have to play Friday night
after a lengthy rain delay.
"That would have been harder to play than a match like
today where I had a good night's sleep and came out ready to
play. I was fired up," said Gambill.
Philippoussis, who missed last year's Open with a knee
injury after reaching the final the previous year, was removed
from the same quarter of the draw that had already lost
two-time champion Patrick Rafter and second-seeded French Open
winner Gustavo Kuerten.
Despite being handed that golden opportunity to advance
thorough the star-deprived section of the draw, Philippoussis
was unable to make the most of the opportunities handed him by
the 27th-ranked Gambill.
The Australian failed to convert five break opportunities
in the first set and Gambill saved one break point in each of
the last two sets.
The Australian, who bombed in 16 aces but also had 11
double faults, said he had to tip his hat to his conqueror.
"He played a great match. He served big. I had chances but
he served big, his second serves were big also, they were
hitting the lines," Philippoussis said.
"He played great tennis."

A DAY OF UPSETS AT THE OPEN

Crosscourt.com

2^nd September 2000

Mark Philippoussis hopes of making a breakthrough for a first Grand Slam title with this year's US Open have been dashed by the dashing Jan-Michael Gambill. The American with the movie matinee looks has upset the 15th seed Australian 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, in a match that was postponed from the night before when rain disrupted the schedule of play.

Philippoussis had to call the trainer during the match because his suspect left knee began to trouble him at one stage, however, at the same time Gambill, who has now begun to mature as a player after much early promise, produced some very controlled and solid tennis to score this impressive win to reach the third round.

"There was just one game when he broke me, I was fine (with the knee)," said Philippoussis. "But then at 5-4, I just hit the return, I went to recover and I was fine. Then I was walking to the other side, I had some pain right where I had the surgery and I got scared for a moment. I played out the point, I didn't feel anything, then I walked on the outside again and it was hurting.

"While I was running around I didn't feel anything. But when I was walking, it was really weird, especially when I was leaning on my heels. Once was on my toes I was fine. After he (trainer) came and rubbed it I had no problem."

Philippoussis conceded that Gambill "played a great match" and added he had to take his "hat off to him".

"A lot of my strokes are coming together, the things I've worked so hard on," said Gambill. "I've always known that I've had good ground strokes. I'm not making the dumb mistakes like I have in the past. That's one major point. Playing a little smarter tennis, hitting the right shots at the right times."

While Aussie stocks suffered with the Philippoussis result they certainly were in the black with Lleyton Hewitt and Jelena Dokic. Hewitt secured a place in the last 16 of the Open for the first time when an impressive straight set result, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 over Jiri Novak, a player who is regarded as a dangerous floater.

"This was the best match I have played, in probably the worst conditions - very humid and hot," said Hewitt. "I think Novak was struggling with the humidity.

"I've got a lot of time for Jiri, I think he's a great player, but he's one of those guys who has the odd bad loss, but he's the guy who stands up in Grand Slams. He did well here last year and he also beat Sampras in the Davis Cup."

Dokic continues to impress with her mental strength and the incredible way she is able to shut out of her mind all the off-court troubles that surround her, by beating unheralded Francesca Schiavone. It was a close battle and Dokic was often in a problem situation but she fought through for a 7-6, 7-5 victory to also reach the fourth round.

"She went out there and had nothing to lose, the pressure was on me to win the match, I was expected to win," said Dokic. "When you lose a few points and get down a break, you get a bit tight, that's what happened. Overall, I stepped up the pace when I needed to. I was down in both sets.

"I just played well when I needed to. Sometimes you're not going to play great. What was important for me was when I don't play well and win a match. That's what makes you stronger. It was good for me to pull that off ad do it in two sets."

The men's fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov has had his hopes dumped on by Dominik Hrbaty. The Slovak has a commanding record over the Russian who committed 46 errors in the match. Hrbaty scored the upset 6-4, 7-6, 6-1 and improved his head to head record over Kafelnikov to 6-1.

In the men's doubles, there was a huge upset with the top seeds Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde crashing out to Lleyton Hewitt and Max Mirnyi 6-1, 4-6, 7-6. The Woodies were hoping to add the US Open crown to the French Open and Wimbledon titles they have won this year.

Conchita Martinez the seventh seed has also been sent packing. The Spaniard was beaten by young Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-1. However the most famous Russian player of all, the 12th seed Anna Kournikova has lost yet again. Kournikova showed once again that she is only a one dimensional player as Belgian Justine Henin advanced 6-4, 7-6.

Henin took the attack to Kournikova and moved her about the court and mixed things up when the sets got close while Kournikova was confused with her own game and continued to just hit the ball up and down.

There were times in both sets when it seemed as though Kournikova would make a move, like when she trailed 1-4 in the first and 1-3 in the second but any pick up in her game was brief.

Second seed Lindsay Davenport was never bothered by Tamarine Tanasugarn and Pete Sampras won in straight sets of which the first two were tiebreaks and the third 6-3, over Agustin Calleri. Sampras said he didn't know what to expect and realised quite soon that Calleri has a big serve and ground strokes as he came out swinging.

"He's got a good game, a good future, really made me work hard," said Sampras. "It was very humid and sticky today and a little breezy. I couldn't get his serve back. The only thing I can do is try to hold on to serve and it came down to a couple of tiebreakers and I stepped it up a bit. I can't really say I figured him out. It's just a sign on how strong the game is."

Mary Pierce advanced 6-4, 7-6 against Lisa Raymond and Serena Williams defeated Giulia Casoni 6-4, 6-2. Williams plays Dokic next.

NEW YORK: Australia's Jelena Dokic and Lleyton Hewitt today won through to the fourth round of the US Open, but Mark Philippoussis crashed out in his second-round match.

Philippoussis, the 15th seed, continued a poor run of form through the American hardcourt season, losing 6-4 6-4 6-4 to rising American Jan-Michael Gambill, in a match held over from Friday night because of rain.

The Victorian had constant problems with his normally potent serve, especially at key moments.

He crucially dropped serve in the ninth game of each set, including in the third set when he served up three double faults.

On a day of more trying heat and humidity at Flushing Meadow, Dokic again put behind her the off-court troubles linked to her father Damir by scoring a courageous 7-6 7-5 third-round win over Italian qualifier Francesca Schiavone.

The 17-year-old had to fight back twice, from 1-4 down in the first set, and from 5-3 down in the second, but while both players made a large amount of mistakes, Dokic was more composed than the 20-year-old on important points.

Dokic was noticeably affected by the heat and was attended by a doctor at courtside early in the second set.

She now faces a daunting fourth-round clash with fifth seed and defending champion Serena Williams, who defeated Italian Giulia Casoni 6-4 6-2 in the third round.

Hewitt had little trouble beating 39th-ranked Czech Jiri Novak 6-3 6-3 6-3, dictating the match mostly from the baseline.

He will play the winner out of Chile's Marcelo Rios and seventh seed Thomas Enqvist.

Hewitt said after the match he needed to fix up a few minor errors in his game and "stay aggressive".

The 19-year-old South Australian will play doubles later today before enjoying a rest day tomorrow.

With Richard Fromberg and Wayne Arthurs to play off in a third-round match, Australia is now guaranteed of having three players through to the round of 16.