Philippoussis Survives a Scare
Australia's Mark Philippoussis (seeded 11) has survived a tight first
set to advance to the second round of Sydney 2000 after defeating Swede
Thomas Johansson (7/6 6/4).
Johansson got the edge in the first set tiebreak, but was unable to
convert. Philippoussis was unforgiving and charged home in front of an
ecstatic parochial crowd.
"It was a lot of fun out there," Philippoussis said. "They're (the
crowd) very loud."
The match lasted just over one hour, but in that time Philippoussis
mustered 17 of his renowned aces.
"I was a little nervous at the start, and centre court was a lot quicker
than I thought," Philippoussis said. "Every time I've met Johansson it's
been tough, so I was up for a tough match."
While Philippoussis has been victorious on all three occasions that this
pair has met, the matches have been tight. The Australian claimed the
match in a tiebreak in the fifth set at the 1998 US Open, and a tiebreak
also decided their match in Stockholm last year.
With regards to the Olympic experience, Philippoussis said he was
excited about the opportunity to represent his country in front of a
home crowd, and is enjoying life in the village.
"It's great in the village. We're watching all the Australian athletes
on TV representing their country. It's a great community," he said.
When asked whether he would attend any other events at the Olympic
Games, he responded that he was having difficulties obtaining tickets.
"It's really hard to get access to the other events," he said. "But some
of the basketballers and swimmers said when their events have finished
up they'll come to watch us play."
Philippoussis meets ITF World Junior Champion Kristian Pless from
Denmark in the second round. This will be the pair's first encounter.
An overanxious Swede allowed Mark Philippoussis to slip through the
noose on a perfect first day for Australia at the state tennis centre at
Olympic Park yesterday.
Philippoussis had to fight off a set point in the tiebreak to beat
Thomas Johansson 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 in what always shaped as a tough opening
assignment.
Pat Rafter and Nicole Pratt weren't required to face similar test of
nerves to start their medal hunts. Rafter backed a steady serve with
crisp volleys to overwhelm American Vince Spadea 6-4 6-3 and Pratt
ousted higher-ranked Romanian opponent Ruxandra Dragomir 6-3 6-3.
After an opening set devoid of service breaks, Philippoussis slumped to
1-4 in the tiebreak before Johansson regrouped to grab a set point at
6-5.
The Swede ripped a brilliant dipping return to Philippoussis's shoelaces
and the tall Australian could only bundle the ball over the net.
Johansson, with Philippoussis stranded at the net, threw his head back
in dismay as a crosscourt forehand from midcourt buried into the net.
Relieved to be still alive in the set, Philippoussis turned up the power
on his ground strokes to close out the tiebreak 8-6 to seize the crucial
lead in the match and then maintain control with an early service break
in the second set.
He closed out the match in typical Scud fashion - three consecutive
aces, a double fault glitch and a booming 214 kmph ace down the middle
to the roars of the near-capacity main stadium crowd.
Rafter and Philippoussis were accorded hero receptions and raucous vocal
backing for their entire centre court stays. Such was the patriotic
fervor that poor Spadea and Johansson must have thought they were in a
Davis Cup tie deep in South America instead of normally cordial Sydney.
After surviving a post-match gauntlet of screaming female fans, Rafter
admitted he felt the pressure to perform, Olympic expectations which
were different to Wimbledon or another major championship.
"When you're out there, you feel very nervous. It's very similar to
Davis Cup, except you know it's knockout. You're not going to get
another shot at proving yourself or you've got your mate to fall back
on," he said.
Philippoussis admitted to being afflicted by nerves too despite the
vocal backing from the packed stadium and "obviously it was a big relief
to get that first set."
He had twice beaten Johansson, a US Open quarter-finalist, in tight
matches and said he knew it was a searching test as soon as he saw the
singles draw.
"The crowd support was fantastic. They were very loud and I like to play
in that atmosphere. It's a long time since I've played at home before a
crowd like that and it was a great feeling having most of them on my
side."